Characterization of intestinal Escherichia coli isolated from calves with diarrhea due to rotavirus and coronavirus

To address more information about changes in commensal Escherichia coli during virus intestinal infection, we characterized 30 faecal E. coli isolates from calves (21 to 60 days old) with diarrhea due to rotavirus and coronavirus, which received, before diagnosis, tetracycline, gentamicin and enrofloxacin drugs.Clermont's phylogenetic classification; presence of genes for curli, cellulose, fimbriae (F4, F5, F6, F18, F41); and antimicrobial susceptibility were used to characterize the isolates. Disk diffusion technique and PCR were used as methodologies.E. coli isolates from calves with diarrhea were phylogenetically classified as B1 (70%, 21/30), B2 (3.33%, 1/30), C (3.33%, 1/30), D (3.33%, 1/30), E (13.33%, 4/30) and unknown (6.7 %; 2/30), whereas E. coli isolates from the control group were classified only as B1 (83.3%, 25/30), E (10 %; 3/30) and unknown (6,7 %; 2/30). E. coli isolates from calves with diarrhea showed a much higher resistance profile with 16 (53.3%) multiresistant isolates. Only isolates (30%-9/30) from diarrheic calves were also positive for fimbriae, specifically 16.7% (5/30) for F5 and 13.3% (4/30) for F18.To sum up, E. coli isolates from calves with diarrhea showed differences in relation to the control group, confirming changes in commensal E. coli during virus intestinal infection. It can be emphasized that some care should be taken to manage diarrheic calves: the pathological agent must be diagnosed prior to treatment; antibacterial treatment should be with antimicrobials with a different mechanism of action; and finally, treated animals should be maintained separately from others because they can carry micro-organisms with a resistant profile.