Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, including APEC-O1 (Johnson et al.,2007), APEC-O2 (Johnson et al., 2005), and χ7122 (O78:K80) (Mellata et al., 2010) were mixed into fresh blood medium (20 μL bacterial inoculum containing 102 CFU: 200 μL blood) and co-incubated at 37°C for 30 min, diluted in PBS, and plated for enumeration on ...
