The distribution of serotypes of Escherichia coli in cow-pats and other animal material compared with serotypes of E. coli isolated from human sources

The serotypes of 13,139 strains of Escherichia coli isolated from humans were compared with the serotypes of 1076 strains isolated from animals. 689 of these strains were isolated from fresh cow-pats on 22 sites in England and Wales. 708 different O/H combinations were found. Of these, 520 were found in human strains only, 130 from animal strains only and 58 O/H serotypes from humans and animals. Approximately half of the animal strains could not be typed with the full set of sera used.