Iwu, Chidozie DeclanDu Plessis, Erika MargareteKorsten, LiseOkoh, Anthony Ifeanyi2021-05-142021-05-142021Chidozie Declan Iwu, Erika du Plessis, Lise Korsten & Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh (2021) Prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 strains in irrigation water and agricultural soil in two district municipalities in South Africa, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 78:3, 474-483, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2020.1834318.0020-7233 (print)1029-0400 (online)10.1080/00207233.2020.1834318http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79914We assessed the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in irrigation water and agricultural soil samples in two District Municipalities in South Africa using standard culture-based and molecular techniques. Presumptive E. coli O157:H7 counts in irrigation water and agricultural soil samples ranged from 1.00 Log10 CFU/100 ml to 4.11 Log10 CFU/100 ml and 2.20 Log10 CFU/g to 4.21 Log10 CFU/g respectively (P ≤ 0.05). Thirteen (28%) of the confirmed isolates (n = 46) were Shiga toxigenic and 33 (72%) were Shiga toxin negative. The presence of Shiga toxigenic E. coli O157:H7 strain in irrigation water and agricultural soil samples reported by this study suggests potential risk to food safety and population health.en© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).PrevalenceE. coli O157:H7VirulenceSoilWaterDiarrhoeaArticle