A naturally occurring rabbit model of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli-induced disease

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) causes hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. The exact mechanism by which EHEC induces disease remains unclear because of the lack of a natural animal model for the disease. An outbreak of bloody diarrhea and sudden death was investigated in a group of Dutch belted rabbits. Two of these rabbits harbored enteropathogenic E. coli O145:H(-), and 1 rabbit was coinfected with EHEC O153:H(-). A partial Shiga toxin 1 gene (stx1) fragment from E. coli O153:H(-) was confirmed by Southern blot and sequence analysis. Toxin production was demonstrated by a HeLa cell cytotoxicity assay. Histopathologic findings in all affected rabbits included erosive and necrotizing enterocolitis with adherent bacterial rods, proliferative glomerulonephritis, tubular necrosis, and fibrin thrombi within small vessels and capillaries. Our findings provide evidence for a naturally occurring animal model of EHEC-induced systemic disease that closely resembles human HUS.