author(s)
Rajesh S, Wilfred Ruban S, Md. Nadeem Fairoze, Srikrishna Isloor and S Naveen Kumar

abstract
The present study was undertaken to study the prevalence, distribution of E. coli in 100 chicken retail outlets in Bengaluru and to phylogenetically group these isolates. A total of 400 samples (100 each of chicken meat, cloacal swabs, water sample and cutting board swabs) were tested based on isolation and the overall prevalence of E. coli in the present study was 57.25 percent (229/400). The distribution found was 62.00 percent in Chicken meat, 88.00 percent in cloacal swab, 29.00 percent in water samples and 50.00 percent in cutting board swabs. A highly significant (P≤0.01) difference in the prevalence was observed among the different samples obtained from the retail outlets. Phylogenetic analysis of 229 E. coli isolates from the retail outlets revealed that 32 belonged to group A (13.97%), 31 belonged to group B1 (13.53%), 136 belonged to group B2 (59.39%), and 30 belonged to group D (13.10%). The results clearly indicated that E. coli isolated in the present study were virulent and extra-intestinal strains, whereas only 13.97 percent could be categorized as commensal.