Prevalence and molecular characterization of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in animal source foods and green leafy vegetables

genes. The positive samples were cultivated on CHROMAgar STEC and the colonies were evaluated for top seven STEC by m-PCR. The top seven STEC serotypes were detected in 27 (93.1%) of the samples: the STEC O111 serotype in 11 (40.7%) beef samples, STEC O45 in 3 (11.1%) chicken, STEC O145 in 6 (22.2%) parsley, 3 (11.1%) lettuce, 1 (3.7%) spinach, and 1 (3.7%) cheese, and STEC O103 in 2 (7.4%) lettuce samples. None of the samples was found positive for STEC O26, O121, and O157 serotypes. This study highlights the fact that the top seven STEC group poses a great risk in terms of food safety and public health in both animal source foods and vegetables.