Bacteriophage biocontrol of Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) O145 biofilms on stainless steel reduces the contamination of beef

Abstract: Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) can form biofilms and frequently cause serious foodborne illnesses. A strain of STEC O145:H25 (EC19990166) known to be a strong biofilm former was used to evaluate the efficacy of bacteriophage AZO145A against biofilms formed on stainless steel (SS) coupons. Exposure of STEC O145:H25 to phage AZO145A (1010 PFU/mL) for 2 h resulted in a 4.0 log10 reduction (P