An Outbreak of Foodborne Illness Caused by Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli in a High School in South Korea

Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases

Jaeseung Shin⁴  Ji-Hyuk Park³  Sung-Suk Oh¹  Gyung Tae Chung²  Cheon-Kwon Yoo²  Eun Jung Jang⁴  Kyung-Hwan Oh²  Seung-Hak Cho²  Geun-Ryang Bae⁴ 

[1] Division of Microbiology, Incheon Research Institute of Public Health and Environment;Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health;Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine;Division of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

关键词: foodborne outbreaks;    E. coli;    pulsed-field gel electrophoresis;   

DOI  :  10.7883/yoken.JJID.2014.460

学科分类：传染病学

来源: National Institute of Infectious Diseases

【 摘 要 】

References(39)Cited-By(2)In June 2013, a diarrheal outbreak occurred among high school students in Incheon, South Korea. We investigated the outbreak to identify the pathogen and mode of transmission. A case-control study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted by local authorities and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bacterial cultures of stool samples, environmental samples, and samples of preserved food items were prepared. PCR, serotyping, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used to identify and characterize the outbreak-related pathogen. We identified 54 cases of gastroenteritis, with symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea. None of the food items served in the high school cafeteria were significantly associated with illness, although the odds ratio for kippered trotters mixed with vegetables was relatively high (odds ratio: 2.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.62–13.69). Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) was isolated from this item and the stool samples from 22 symptomatic students and 4 asymptomatic food handlers. The PFGE patterns of EAEC isolated from these sources were indistinguishable. This outbreak was caused by EAEC, and kippered trotters mixed with vegetables, perhaps contaminated by asymptomatic food handlers, were linked to the outbreak. This case-control study highlights the importance of safe food preparation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown