title: Clonal diversity of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7/H- in Germany--a ten-year study.
abstract: Two hundred and ten E. coli O157:H7/H- strains isolated from single cases and outbreaks of diarrhoea and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in Germany between 1988 and 1998 were characterised by a range of molecular subtyping methods and phage typing in order to analyse their clonal nature. A high clonal heterogeneity, together with a considerable clonal stability, has been identified among the bacterial isolates and no single clonal type appeared to be geographically dominant. It is recommended to apply pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) together with P gene profile determination (number and genomic positions of lambdoid bacteriophages) as laboratory tools for an extended epidemiological surveillance of E. coli OOFF phage typing will remain helpful as a first line of analysis, particularly in outbreak situations.
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liesegang
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sachse
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prager
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steinrück
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aleksic
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rabsch
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fruth
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bockemühl
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tschäpe
mesh_terms: D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D012703:Serotyping; D022621:Shiga Toxin / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: C024013:DNA replication complex protein, Bacteriophage lambda; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D014764:Viral Proteins; D022621:Shiga Toxin