Detection of toxin genes in Escherichia coli isolated from normal dogs and dogs with diarrhea.

The etiology of acute, nonviral diarrhea in dogs is poorly understood. Enterotoxigenic and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli are causal agents of diarrhea in humans, pigs, and cattle, but the association of these toxigenic E. coli with diarrhea in dogs has not been explored to a significant extent. In this study, DNA hybridization and PCR amplification were used to identify the frequency with which the genes for E. coli enterotoxins (STap, STb, and LTI) and verotoxins (VT1 and VT2) occur in association with diarrhea in dogs. Genes for VT1 (8.9%), VT2 (22.2%), STa (26.7%), and STb (4.4%) were identified in E. coli cultured from feces of 20 of 45 dogs (44.4%) with diarrhea. Genes for VT2, STa, and STb were not identified in feces from normal dogs. Genes for VT1 were observed in similar proportions in fecal samples from diarrheic (8.9%) and normal (12.3%) dogs. Heat labile enterotoxin (LTI) was not detected in fecal samples from either diarrheic or normal dogs. Our results suggest that heat stable enterotoxins and VT2 may be causally associated with diarrhea in dogs. Dogs appear to be able to carry VT1-producing E. coli without showing overt signs of disease.