Unusual Features of Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia Coli O104: H4 Outbreak
Unusual features of Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak, Germany 2011
The Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak of 2011 originated in northern Germany and lasted from May through to June of the same year. “The outbreak was characterized by several unusual features: a high incidence in adults (especially women), a greatly increased incidence of the haemolytic–Uraemic syndrome (in approximately 25% of patients, as compared with 1 to 15% in previous outbreaks of Shiga-toxin–producing E.coli), a predominance of female patients among cases of the haemolytic–uraemic syndrome, and a rare serotype of Shiga-toxin–producing E. coli that had been linked to only two sporadic cases of the haemolytic–uraemic syndrome”1 (Open-Source Genomic Analysis of Shiga-Toxin–Producing E. coli O104:H4 Holger Rohde, M.D., Junjie Qin, Ph.D., Yujun Cui, Ph.D., Dongfang Li, M.E., Nicholas J. Loman, M.B., B.S., Moritz Hentschke, M.D., Wentong Chen, B.S., Fei Pu, B.S., Yangqing Peng, B.S., Junhua Li, B.E., Feng Xi, B.E.,Shenghui Li, B.S., Yin Li, B.S., Zhaoxi Zhang, B.S., Xianwei Yang, B.S.,Meiru Zhao, M.S., Peng Wang, B.M., Yuanlin Guan, B.E., Zhong Cen, M.E.,Xiangna Zhao, B.S., Martin Christner, M.D., Robin Kobbe, M.D.,Sebastian Loos, M.D., Jun Oh, M.D., Liang Yang, Ph.D.,Antoine Danchin, Ph.D., George F. Gao, Ph.D., Yajun Song, Ph.D.,Yingrui Li, B.S., Huanming Yang, Ph.D., Jian Wang, Ph.D.,Jianguo Xu, M.D., Ph.D., Mark J. Pallen, M.D., Ph.D, Jun Wang, Ph.D.,Martin Aepfelbacher, M.D., Ruifu Yang, M.D., Ph.D.,and the E. coli O104:H4 Genome Analysis Crowd-Sourcing Consortium)
At first the outbreak was attributed to cucumber imports from Spain, however this claim was unjustified. Eventually the blame was laid upon a German sprout farm by Reinhard Burger, head of Germany's centre for disease control “People who ate sprouts were nine times more likely to have bloody diarrhoea than those who did not”2 although none of the tests on the sprouts had come back positive “the
The Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak of 2011 originated in northern Germany and lasted from May through to June of the same year. “The outbreak was characterized by several unusual features: a high incidence in adults (especially women), a greatly increased incidence of the haemolytic–Uraemic syndrome (in approximately 25% of patients, as compared with 1 to 15% in previous outbreaks of Shiga-toxin–producing E.coli), a predominance of female patients among cases of the haemolytic–uraemic syndrome, and a rare serotype of Shiga-toxin–producing E. coli that had been linked to only two sporadic cases of the haemolytic–uraemic syndrome”1 (Open-Source Genomic Analysis of Shiga-Toxin–Producing E. coli O104:H4 Holger Rohde, M.D., Junjie Qin, Ph.D., Yujun Cui, Ph.D., Dongfang Li, M.E., Nicholas J. Loman, M.B., B.S., Moritz Hentschke, M.D., Wentong Chen, B.S., Fei Pu, B.S., Yangqing Peng, B.S., Junhua Li, B.E., Feng Xi, B.E.,Shenghui Li, B.S., Yin Li, B.S., Zhaoxi Zhang, B.S., Xianwei Yang, B.S.,Meiru Zhao, M.S., Peng Wang, B.M., Yuanlin Guan, B.E., Zhong Cen, M.E.,Xiangna Zhao, B.S., Martin Christner, M.D., Robin Kobbe, M.D.,Sebastian Loos, M.D., Jun Oh, M.D., Liang Yang, Ph.D.,Antoine Danchin, Ph.D., George F. Gao, Ph.D., Yajun Song, Ph.D.,Yingrui Li, B.S., Huanming Yang, Ph.D., Jian Wang, Ph.D.,Jianguo Xu, M.D., Ph.D., Mark J. Pallen, M.D., Ph.D, Jun Wang, Ph.D.,Martin Aepfelbacher, M.D., Ruifu Yang, M.D., Ph.D.,and the E. coli O104:H4 Genome Analysis Crowd-Sourcing Consortium)
At first the outbreak was attributed to cucumber imports from Spain, however this claim was unjustified. Eventually the blame was laid upon a German sprout farm by Reinhard Burger, head of Germany's centre for disease control “People who ate sprouts were nine times more likely to have bloody diarrhoea than those who did not”2 although none of the tests on the sprouts had come back positive “the