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Volume 4, Issue 8 (Suppl) J Infect Dis Ther 2016
ISSN: 2332-0877, JIDT an open access journal Infection Control 2016
November 28-29, 2016
Page 20
conferenceseries.com
November 28-29, 2016 Valencia, Spain
4th World Congress on
Infection Prevention and Control
Targeting reservoirs to control human infections: A one health approach
S higa toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause hemorrhagic colitis and potentially fatal extra-intestinal sequelae, such
as the hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in humans. Currently, treatment of human
STEC disease is only symptomatic and supportive. Antibiotics are contraindicated owing to increased risk of sequelae; hence,
diverse new STEC-specific management modalities are being investigated including those that that target STEC bacteria,
interfere with Shiga toxin (Stx) binding, neutralize Stx, inhibit Stx trafficking, modulate/interfere with host cellular responses
to Stx, effect homeostasis of host microbiota (probiotics), and virulence factor-based vaccines. Because ruminants (cattle
and sheep) are primary STEC reservoirs, several preharvest control strategies to reduce pathogen load and prevent STEC
entry into the food chain are being implemented. These include: Water treatment, dietary strategies, water and feed additives,
animal treatments and management and transportation practices. However, these strategies have variable or limited efficacy
owing to diverse hosts/environments maintaining STEC on farms, further emphasizing the need for control measures that can
be consistently employed. Hence, we are employing host specific studies and pathogen-directed systems-based approaches
towards the development of such novel STEC-targeted modalities. These include, elucidating the “interactome” of STEC and
the squamous epithelial cells constituting the rectoanal junction (the site of persistence in cattle) and evaluating O157 proteins
expressed in the rumen (first compartment of the ruminant stomach). Proteins contributing to cell adherence and rumen
survival are being investigated for inclusion in novel anti-adhesion/colonization therapies.
Biography
Indira T Kudva is a Research Microbiologist and Lead Scientist at the National Animal Disease Center, USDA, Ames, Iowa. She has received her BSc in Zoology and MSc
in Medical Microbiology degrees from India, PhD in Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Idaho and trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow at
the University of Idaho, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She has over 25 years of experience in the field of microbiology, molecular biology
and infectious diseases. She has 29 peer-reviewed publications, 3 invited reviews, 27 meeting abstracts, 18 invited talks, 8 funded grants and novel inventions (4 patent
applications). She is also an adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University; the Executive Editor for the “Virulence Mechanisms
of Bacterial Pathogens” book, 5th Edition, ASM press and is on the Editorial Boards of the Applied and Environmental Microbiology (ASM press) and the SRL Proteomics
and Bioinformatics (SciRes Literature) journals.
Indira T Kudva
United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, USA
Indira T Kudva, J Infect Dis Ther 2016, 4:8 (Suppl)