J Bacteriol Virol.  2018 Dec;48(4):113-120. 10.4167/jbv.2018.48.4.113.

Molecular Characterization of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in Foodborne Outbreak

• Park SH
• Seung HJ
• Jeong HW
• Park SY
• Jung JH
• Jin YH
• Han SH
• Kim HS
• Kim JS
• Park JH
• Gong YJ
• Hong CK
• Lee JH
• Kim IY
• Jung K

• KMID: 2452063
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4167/jbv.2018.48.4.113

Abstract

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a main cause of diarrhea worldwide. This study reports the investigation on the occurrence of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) serotype O27:H7-associated foodborne gastrointestinal disease that occurred at two schools, one middle school and one high school, in Seoul, Korea in June 2015. The immediate government investigation in 1,216 students and 19 food handlers in these two schools revealed that 116 students, 32 students in the middle school and 84 students in the high school, and 2 food handlers, one from middle school and the other from high school, developed gastrointestinal illness symptoms including diarrhea. Following lab investigation identified 29 ETEC serotype O27:H7 strains, 27 from 116 students and 2 from 19 food handlers. Pattern of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of ETEC isolates suggested that ETEC serotype O27:H7 caused the diarrheal outbreak in June 2015 in Seoul, Korea was a specific clone. In addition, these ETEC serotype O27:H7 isolates were highly resistance to the several antibiotics. The results from the present study provide the evidence that ETEC serotype O27:H7 can be an important cause of domestic foodborne outbreak in Korea.

Keyword

Enterotoxigenic E. coli; Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; Foodborne outbreak

MeSH Terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Clone Cells
Diarrhea
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli*
Escherichia coli
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Humans
Korea
Seoul
Serogroup
Anti-Bacterial Agents