Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 in North Africa region: a threat require advanced investigation

Abstract

Several concerns exist regarding the prevalence, incidence, distribution and infectiousness of bacterial pathogen Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157 in the North African region. EHEC O157 strains have been detected worldwide in animals as well as humans; the related infections have a complicated clinical course with occasionally fatal outcome, and the documented strains show remarkable variability between and within different countries. Animals, cattle in particular, are a major reservoir and an important transmission vector of feacal E. coli O157. A limited amount of studies from Africa have reported diarrheagenic E. coli from human and non-human reservoirs but the true extent and burden E. coli 0157 is still unclear and possibly underestimated. Below is a summary and comparison of recent published information on the status of E. coli 0157 in humans and animals in the North African region.