Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli can cause non-gastrointestinal tract diseases in both humans and animals. Kelly A. Tivendale and Lisa K. Nolan of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, show that the E. coli strains responsible for causing human neonatal meningitis are very similar to the avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) in multilocus sequence type, phylogenetic group, and pulsed-field electrophoresis pattern. Some APEC can cause high mortality and meningitis in the rat model of human meningitis, and some neonatal meningitis E. coli (NMEC) cause disease in the chicken model of avian colibacillosis. Other NMEC and APEC display host specificity, causing disease only in the host type (mammalian or avian) from which they were isolated. "This work suggests that E. coli associated with retail poultry meat are possible human pathogens, and reinforces the importance of proper food handling techniques," says Tivendale. "It also suggests some E. coli can infect multiple host types, while others are host specific. Understanding the basis of host specificity would be beneficial to future control of other avian and human extraintestinal E. coli infections and disease." The researchers plan to investigate the mechanisms of host specificity.

(K. A. Tivendale, C. M. Logue, S. Kariyawasam, D. Jordan, A. Hussein, G. Li, Y. Wannemuehler, and L. K. Nolan. 2010. Avian-pathogenic Escherichia coli strains are similar to neonatal meningitis E. coli strains and are able to cause meningitis in the rat model of human disease. Infect. Immun. 78:3412-3419.)