SUMMARY

Human illnesses caused by Escherichia coli O157 strains are brought on by consuming water and food that have been contaminated with the feces of sick animals and/or people. It is one of the dangerous and widely recognized serotypes that is causing several serious diseases.

The current study was conducted to detect virulence genes and perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in 100 sewage water Samples collected from several hospitals in Erbil city, including (Hawler Teaching Hospital, West Emergency Hospital, Central Emergency Hospital, Raparin Teaching Hospital, Rizgari Teaching Hospital, Surgical Specialty Hospital/Cardiac Center and East Emergency Hospital), from June 2021 to June 2022.

Four samples of E. coli serotype O157:H7 were isolated from the total number of sewage Samples. the isolated samples were confronted with fourteen antimicrobes, including Ceftazidime, Rifampicin, Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid, Ceftriaxone, Cefotaxime, Piperacillin-Tazobactam, Aztreonam, Tetracycline, Amikacin, Ferodantine, Tobramycin, Amoxicillin, Imipenem, and Ciprofloxacin to conduct an antimicrobial susceptibility test for each isolated sample. The results demonstrated that the isolated samples had strong resistance levels to Rifampicin and Amoxicillin, but they were susceptible to Piperacillin-Tazobactam, Aztreonam, and Ciprofloxacin.

Four virulence genes were investigated by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and these genes were (stx1, stx2, eae, and uidA). The results proved absence of stx1 and stx2 genes in the serotype O157:H7 E. coli isolates, while each of the eae gene and the uidA gene were detected in the isolated samples.