title: A foodborne outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli serotype O169:H41 in Osaka, Japan.
abstract: We describe our laboratory investigation of a massive foodborne outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) serotype O169:H41 that occurred during a 2-day traditional festival held in September 2012 in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Of 126 customers who patronized a particular Japanese restaurant during the event, 102 developed symptoms of gastrointestinal disease. We isolated strains of ETEC serotype O169:H41 from 1 food sample and from fecal samples collected from 19 of 34 patients and 2 of 4 food handlers. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of these isolates suggested that the foodborne pathogen that caused the diarrheal outbreak was a specific clone of ETEC serotype O169:H41. Based on these findings and our interviews with the restaurant owner and employees, we concluded that a likely cause of the outbreak was an overwhelmed capacity of the restaurant kitchen in terms of preservation of sanitary procedures during the festival and the inability of the restaurant staff to handle the relatively large quantity of food to ensure a lack of contamination with ETEC. Thus, we reconfirm that ETEC strains of serotype O169:H41 remain important causes of domestic foodborne outbreaks in developed countries, including Japan.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bacteriology, Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanki
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawatsu
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kumeda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D054307:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D055815:Young Adult