Abstract
Background:
The bacterium Escherichia (E.) coli has long been acknowledged as a major causative agent of food-borne illness, with the ability to cause several illnesses and fatalities nationwide. It has the ability to produce Stx1 and Stx2 toxins that cause food poisoning.

Aim:
The primary goals of the current study were to isolate and identify E. coli classical methods and confirmed by detecting the uidA gene using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to identify the Stx1 and Stx2 genes in E. coli isolated.

Methods:
Three hundred samples of veal meat sold at retail and various parts of butchers’ shops were collected from each side of Mosul city.

Results:
The prevalence of E. coli in the current investigation was 48%. The high prevalence of E. coli isolated from the floor was 61.7%. The prevalence of E. coli isolated from veal meat, tables, walls, and worker’s hand was 60%, 56.7%, 31.7%, and 30%, respectively. A statistically significant difference in contamination rates was observed among sample types (χ² = 23.96, p < 0.001). The highest prevalence was recorded in the floor samples (61.7%). No statistically significant difference was observed between the two areas (χ² = 0.00, p > 0.05), indicating similar hygienic and contamination conditions in butcher shops on both sides of the city. Additionally, PCR analysis confirmed the presence of the uidA gene in all E. coli isolates (100%), the presence of the Stx1 gene in 73.3%, and the presence of the Stx2 gene in 23.3% of E. coli isolates. Four different gene profiles were found in E. coli. Profile II (uidA + Stx1) accounted for 53.3% of all isolates.

Conclusion:
All butcher shops’ equipment spread E. coli, the retail meat was tainted by the bacteria, and the E. coli isolates had the Stx1 and Stx2 genes.

Key words: Butchers; E. coli; Retail meat; Shiga toxin genes; Shops.