Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef using immunomagnetic separation and multiplex PCR

In the study 251 fresh ground beef samples sold in Ankara were analyzed to evaluate the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by immunomagnetic separation (IMS) based cultivation technique. Virulence factors of the isolates were determined by multiplex PCR. Nineteen (7.6%) of 251 ground beef samples were found as contaminated with E. coli O157. By PCR analyse in two of the isolates fliCh7 gene was detected and identified as E. coli O157:H7. According to the multiplex PCR one of the isolate has all stx1, stx2, eaeA, hly and fliCh7 genes and the other has stx1, eaeA,hly and fliCh7 genes.