Genomic basis of circulating STEC in Uruguay

Escherichia coli is an ubiquitous microorganism that can be found in diverse environments such as soil, food, and as part of the intestinal microbiota of warm-blooded animals. In addition, some variants are responsible for intestinal and extraintestinal infections. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections have high morbidity and mortality rates and are a global health problem. STEC is a zoonotic pathogen and bovine are its main reservoir, where it persists without causing serious disease. STEC main transmition route isfecal-oral. In rodeos its dispersion is favored by inappropriate food storage conditions and poor cleanliness.In addition, it can persist in ready to consume food and in water courses. In Uruguay, an incidence of HUS isestimated at 4-5 children/100,000 inhabitants. Non-O157 variants of STEC have been detected in childrenwith HUS and in dairy calves in our country. In the latter group, associated with highly pathogenic clones andcarrying multi-resistance to antimicrobials. In the current global context, the "One Health" initiative seeks tolink the concepts of animal health-public health, implement surveillance of infectious diseases and evaluatethe ineffectiveness of antimicrobials, within a framework of human-animal-environment interaction. This project aims to study the genetic basis of a set of STEC isolates from calves, food, the environment andhuman clinical cases in our country. Their genomes will be analyzed and the phenotype of each will bestudied. Bovine STECs are expected to differ in their genomes from those of environmental, food, and human clinical cases. To be successful in the environment, STECs have genetic attributes of tolerance to theenvironmental diversity and attributes of virulence associated with the potential to cause outbreaks inhumans.