Diarrheal diseases are an important public health and economic problem worldwide, especially in Burkina Faso.
This prospective study aims to determine the prevalence of major diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) pathotypes
in stool samples from patients suffering from diarrheal diseases in four hospitals in Ouagadougou. After obtaining
the informed consent, a total of 415 stool samples were collected from patients and Escherichia coli strains were
identified using standard microbiological methods. We have used 16-plex PCR, which permit the identification of
five different categories of diarrheagenic E. coli such as enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), enteroinvasive E. coli
(EIEC), shigatoxigenic E. coli (STEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) in a
single reaction simultaneously. From the 292 strains, 23 (8%) were positive for DEC virulence genes with 12 (4%)
samples being positive for EAEC, 5 (2%) for EPEC, 3 (1%) for EHEC, 2 (˂ 1%) for EIEC and 1 (˂ 1%) for ETEC.
The children under 5 years old were most affected (74%). However, EAEC is the predominant DEC isolated from
the examined patients with diarrhoea. This study indicated that the five major DEC pathotypes continuous to be a
principal cause of diarrhoea in Burkina Faso. The present results will contribute to highlight the need of a
surveillance program to reduce DEC prevalence in hospitals in this country

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, 16-plex PCR, diarrhea, patients