Table 4 Age distribution of virulence genes detected in fecal samples from pre-weaned calves
Virulence genes | No. (%) of E. coli strains by age (days) | Diarrhea × age | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1–20 (n = 337) | 21–40 (n = 218) | 41–60 (n = 134) | P value | P value | |
F17 | 104 (30.9) | 110 (50.5) | 66 (49.3) | < 0.001 | 0.519 |
F5 | 2 (0.6) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 | 1.000 |
sta | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.161 | 1.000 |
stx1 | 18 (5.3) | 12 (5.5) | 6 (4.5) | 0.442 | 0.290 |
stx2 | 1 (0.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 | 1.000 |
eae | 10 (3.0) | 5 (2.3) | 2 (1.5) | 0.846 | 0.158 |
saa | 7 (2.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0.186 | 1.000 |
F17 + F5 | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.9) | 1 (0.7) | 0.065 | 1.000 |
F17 + stx1 | 3 (0.9) | 3 (1.4) | 6 (4.5) | 0.005 | 0.858 |
F17 + F41 | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.353 | 1.000 |
F17 + eae | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.353 | 1.000 |
stx1 + eae | 7 (2.1) | 6 (2.8) | 1 (0.7) | 0.258 | 0.535 |
stx1 + saa | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.161 | 1.000 |
stx1 + F5 | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0.401 | 1.000 |
stx2 + sta | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0.401 | 1.000 |
F17 + stx1 + eae | 1 (0.3) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.7) | 0.350 | 1.000 |
F5 + stx1 + saa | 1 (0.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 | 1.000 |
Total | 156 (46.3) | 145 (66.5) | 87 (64.9) | 0.000 | 0.328 |