The present study was carried out in order to survey phylogroups and molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance, shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) strains isolated from ovine and caprine carcasses in Iran. The E. coli isolates were collected from carcasses of sheep (53 isolates) and goat (52 isolates). The E. coli isolates were examined for STEC, aEPEC and nine antibiotic resistance genes. The Clermont et al. (2013) method was utilized to determine the phylogroup of the isolates. The most frequent phylogroup was A (44.8%) followed by B1 (40%). Sixteen isolates (15.23%) harbored stx1 and/or stx2 were classified as STEC. Three isolates (2.9%) were assigned to aEPEC. Out of the isolates, 7.7% isolates possessed the qnrB gene, and no blaTEM, blaSHV, blaOXA-1, blaCTX-M-15, IMP and VIM genes were detected. The moderately high prevalence of STEC was observed in ovine and caprine samples in Kerman, Iran. Practical applications : Since ovine and caprine are considered to be the lifeline agro-economy in many tropical countries, especially Iran, identification and characterization of diarrheagenic agents and antibiotic resistance are of significant economic importance. The presence of STEC and EPEC strains with antimicrobial resistance in ovine and caprine carcasses could be considered a threat to public health for being highly pathogenic for humans.
