| detection and characterization of shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli in captive non-domestic mammals. | shiga toxin producing-escherichia coli (stec) is an important emerging pathogen, and ruminants are recognized as their main natural reservoir. the aim of this work was to establish the frequency of stec in non-domestic mammals of the zoo and botanical garden of la plata city, argentina, and to pheno-genotypically characterize stec isolates. by polymerase chain reaction (pcr), shiga toxin (stx) gene sequences were detected in 50.8% of 65 fecal samples. twenty-five stec strains were isolated from ... | 2006 | 16919898 |