ABSTRACT

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is widely distributed bacterium that can exist as a harmless commensal or as a pathogenic organism responsible for infections in both humans and animals. Among its virulence factors, haemolysin productionand haeagglutination play crucial roles in bacterial adhesion,colonization and host tissue damage. This study aimed to investigate the haemagglutination and haemolysin properties of Escherichia coli isolates from clinical and veterinary sources. A total of 100 isolates (50 clinical and 50 veterinary) were analyzed. Haemolysin production was significantly higher in veterinary isolates (56%) compared to clinical isolates (28%) (p = 0.0084). Type of clinical specimens (p=0.8815) and animals (p=0.1536) did not significantly affect the prevalence of haemolysin production (p>0.05). The prevalence of haemagglutination did not differ between clinical and veterinary isolates (p=0.4122), among various clinical specimens (p=0.0709) and type of animals (p=0.5512). This finding indicate that veterinary isolates possess higher haemolysin activity, suggesting greater virulence potential, while haemagglution does not differ significantly between sources. The study underscores the importance of understanding E coli virulence factors for developing targeted interventions in clinical and veterinary settings.