[Epidemiological study on an outbreak caused by E. coli O157:H7 in Jiangsu province].
OBJECTIVE
To carry out epidemiological study on an outbreak caused by E. coli O157:H7 infection in Jiangsu province in 1999.


METHODS
Epidemiological, microbiological and moleculebiological methods were used to find out the source, route of transmission and risk factors.


RESULTS
95 severe O157:H7 infected patients with acute renal failure in 9 counties and districts of 2 municipalities were reported in Jiangsu province, 1999 while 83 of the patients died with a death rate of 87.37%. Most patients were seen in mid or late June. The ratio of male to female was 1 to 1.44 and 88.42% of the patients were over 50 years old. 38 patients occurred in 2000 with 34 deaths. Major factors contributing to the outbreak would include without drinking tap water, eating leftover food, poor sanitary status in kitchen, not washing hands before meal and after bowl movement. 2 strain of O157:H7 was isolated from severe patients and 3 from diarrhea cases. Carrier rate among animals was up to 9.62% and 99.41% of the strains carried toxic gene. Strains isolated from feces of patients and animals belonged to the same colonies.


CONCLUSIONS
This outbreak was severe which caused by O157:H7 and was first seen in China, which was closely related to the high carrier rate of O157:H7 in animals and to the positive rate of high toxic gene of the strains. There were various routes of transmission and the main factors of infection would include poor personal health habits and poor sanitation of the household.
Wang
Hua
H
Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Nanjing 210009, China.
Jing
Huai-qi
HQ
Li
Hong-wei
HW
Ni
Da-xin
DX
Zhao
Guang-fa
GF
Gu
Ling
L
Yang
Jin-chuan
JC
Shi
Zhi-yang
ZY
Liu
Guang-zhong
GZ
Hu
Xiao-shu
XS
Xu
Jian-guo
JG
D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins