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. 1988 Aug;101(1):83–91. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800029241

First recognized community outbreak of haemorrhagic colitis due to verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O 157.H7 in the UK.

G M Morgan 1, C Newman 1, S R Palmer 1, J B Allen 1, W Shepherd 1, A M Rampling 1, R E Warren 1, R J Gross 1, S M Scotland 1, H R Smith 1
PMCID: PMC2249333  PMID: 3042441

Abstract

The first recognized outbreak of haemorrhagic colitis due to Escherichia coli O 157.H7 in the United Kingdom affected at least 24 persons living in East Anglia over a 2-week period. The illnesses were characterized by severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea of short duration. Eleven patients were admitted to hospital and there was one death. Patients were mainly adult women who had not eaten out of the home in the 2 weeks before onset. Unlike previously reported outbreaks hamburgers were not the vehicle of infection, and a case-control study suggested that handling vegetables, and particularly potatoes, was the important risk factor.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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