Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with ground beef from a U.S. military installation--Okinawa, Japan, February 2004.
In February 2004, the Okinawa Prefectural Chubu Health Center (OCHC) and the Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment (OIHE), Japan, investigated three cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection in a Japanese family associated with eating ground beef. Public health officials from multiple agencies in Japan and the United States collaborated on this investigation, which resulted in a voluntary recall of approximately 90,000 pounds of frozen ground beef in the United States and at U.S. military bases in the Far East. This was the first reported instance in which Japanese public health officials identified contaminated, commercially distributed ground beef that was produced in the United States. This report summarizes epidemiologic and laboratory investigations conducted by OCHC and OIHE. The results underscore the importance of using standardized molecular subtyping methods throughout the world to facilitate international public health communication and intervention.
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019649:Food Industry; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D008889:Military Personnel; D014481:United States