Abstract

Escherichia coli is a vast group of microorganisms. While the majority of varieties are harmless, certain strains become harmful by acquiring virulence traits that boost their disease-causing abilities. They have been linked to a variety of diarrheagenic and extraintestinal disorders, including septicemia, newborn meningitis, urinary tract infections (UTIs), cystitis, pyelonephritis, and traveler’s diarrhoea. One hundred (100) urine samples randomly collected from out-patients attending the University of Teaching Hospital were examined in order to isolate E. coli. E. coli positive isolates were thereafter screened for the presence of virulence factors/genes like protease, hemolysin, colicin, curli fimbriae, heamagllutinatin, P fimbria (pap), fimH, hemolysin (hly), aerobactin (aer), cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (cnf1), and afimbrial adhesion I (afaI) using bacteriological, phenotypic tests and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fifty (50) of the 100 urine samples gave positive cultures on Eosine Methylene Blue agar. However, biochemical identification revealed only 31 (62%) of the 50 as positive whereas only 23 (74%) of the 31were positive with molecular verified to be E. coli. The phenotypic and molecular testing revealed virulence factors/genes in 94% (n = 29/31) and 100% (n = 23/23) of the E. coli isolates, respectively. Colicin and fimH were the most common virulence traits/genes found using both approaches. The study found no evidence of Hemagglutinin, hly, or cnf expression. The presence of virulence indicators in E. coli isolated from urine samples of outpatients at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria, was found in our study. E. coli isolates have a variety of virulence factors that contribute to their pathogenicity in humans