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Recovery and Genetic Diversity of Escherichia coli Isolates from Deep Litter, Shallow Litter, and Surgical Shoe Covers

B. A. McCrea^*,1, K. S. Macklin, R. A. Norton, J. B. Hess and S. F. Bilgili

^* Department of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis 95616; and Department of Poultry Science, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5416

Correspondence: ¹ Corresponding author: bmccrea{at}desu.edu

Litter is a common source of infectious agents in poultry production environments. Typical sampling methods only examine bacteria on the surface; however, bacteria recovered with these methods may not be representative of the population in the litter. To test this hypothesis, both shallow (top 2 in.) and deep (bottom 2 in.) litter samples were taken and compared with a surface sampling method (i.e., surgical shoe covers). Escherichia coli isolates were recovered from all 3 sample types and examined using an automated ribotyping system to determine the genetic diversity of the isolates. Twenty-six unique E. coli strains were recovered from the 3 different sampling methods. There was no correlation among strains between visit age, house, flock, or farm and ribogroups. Based upon the patterns of E. coli recovery among the different sample types, our results suggest that surface sampling methods are equally capable of recovering common isolates from the litter. Surgical shoe covers were easy to use, provided the same core population of isolates, and were comparable to shallow litter in the number of strains recovered.

Key Words: Escherichia coli • litter • broiler • surgical shoe cover • automated ribotyping