title: High genomic diversity of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli isolates in Japan and its applicability for the detection of diffuse outbreak.
abstract: Genotyping of 1,102 enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli isolates by the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) carried out from January to November 2000 has revealed the high genomic diversity of these isolates in Japan. By combining the results of genotyping of the isolates with the information from other epidemiological investigations of the cases, we identified a diffuse outbreak in Japan in the year 2000 that seemed to be sporadic but was actually linked. Isolates with only the Shiga toxin 2 gene derived from patient specimens and the contaminated food involved in this diffuse outbreak showed an indistinguishable PFGE profile and the same phage type. Based on the diversity of genotypes among the isolates of enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7/- in Japan, we suggest the presence of a few other possible diffuse outbreaks due to the organisms, showing indistinguishable genotypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. haruwata@nih.go.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Terajima
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izumiya
authors.forename: Sunao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iyoda
authors.forename: Kazumichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D022641:Shiga Toxin 2