Escherichia coli ETEC, EPEC, NTEC and STEC/EHEC pathotypes are often isolated from bovine feces. The objective of this study was to detect 21 E. coli virulence genes in feces from 252 dairy calves in Uruguay (149 with neonatal diarrhea – NCD – and 103 asymptomatic). Genes iucD, f17A, afa8E, papC, clpG and f17G(II) were the most prevalent (81.3%; 48.4%; 37.3%; 35.7%; 34.1%; 31.3%, respectively). Genes eae, stx1and stx2 were poorly represented; 13/252 animals harbored one or a combination of these genes. The prevalence of the cnf gene was 4.4%, while that of cdt-IV and cdt-III genes was 24.2% and 12.7% respectively. This study reports updated data about the virulence profiles of E. coli in dairy calves in Uruguay. A large number of adhesins and toxin genes were detected. Our results demonstrate that E. coli from bovine feces has diarrheagenic and extraintestinal profiles although other NCD risks factors may contribute to the disease outcome.

大肠杆菌ETEC、EPEC、NTEC 和 STEC/EHEC 致病型通常是从​​牛粪中分离出来的。本研究的目的是检测乌拉圭 252 头奶牛（149 头有新生儿腹泻 - NCD - 和 103 头无症状）粪便中的21 个大肠杆菌毒力基因。基因iucD、f17A、afa8E、papC、clpG和f17G(II)最为普遍（分别为 81.3%；48.4%；37.3%；35.7%；34.1%；31.3%）。基因eae、stx1和stx2表现不佳；13/252 只动物携带一种或多种这些基因。cnf的流行基因为 4.4%，而cdt-IV和cdt-III基因分别为 24.2% 和 12.7%。本研究报告了有关乌拉圭奶牛中大肠杆菌毒力谱的最新数据。检测到大量粘附素和毒素基因。我们的研究结果表明，来自牛粪的大肠杆菌具有致腹泻和肠外特征，尽管其他非传染性疾病风险因素可能会导致疾病结果。