Molecular Detection of Certain Virulence Genes of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) in Chicken

Abstract

In the present study, 86 avian pathogenic E. coli isolates from chicken were subjected to multiplex PCR to detect the presence of virulence genes stx1, stx2, eaeA, and hlyA. Forty-seven isolates harbored one or more virulence genes, stx1, stx2, and eaeA while gene hlyA was not detected in any of the samples. Of these, 15 (17.44%) isolates harbored stx1gene, 11 (12.79%) isolates carried stx2 gene, 18 (20.93%) isolates were positive for both stx1 and stx2 genes and 3 (3.49%) isolates carried eaeA gene.