Skip to main content
PMC home page
Emerging Infectious Diseases logoLink to Emerging Infectious Diseases
. 2001 Nov-Dec;7(6):977–982. doi: 10.3201/eid0706.010609

A multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections linked to alfalfa sprouts grown from contaminated seeds.

T Breuer 1, D H Benkel 1, R L Shapiro 1, W N Hall 1, M M Winnett 1, M J Linn 1, J Neimann 1, T J Barrett 1, S Dietrich 1, F P Downes 1, D M Toney 1, J L Pearson 1, H Rolka 1, L Slutsker 1, P M Griffin 1; Investigation Team1
PMCID: PMC2631892  PMID: 11747724

Abstract

A multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred in the United States in June and July 1997. Two concurrent outbreaks were investigated through independent case-control studies in Michigan and Virginia and by subtyping isolates with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Isolates from 85 persons were indistinguishable by PFGE. Alfalfa sprouts were the only exposure associated with E. coli O157:H7 infection in both Michigan and Virginia. Seeds used for sprouting were traced back to one common lot harvested in Idaho. New subtyping tools such as PFGE used in this investigation are essential to link isolated infections to a single outbreak.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (72.7 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Akashi S., Joh K., Tsuji A., Ito H., Hoshi H., Hayakawa T., Ihara J., Abe T., Hatori M., Mori T. A severe outbreak of haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome associated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Japan. Eur J Pediatr. 1994 Sep;153(9):650–655. doi: 10.1007/BF02190685. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barrett T. J., Lior H., Green J. H., Khakhria R., Wells J. G., Bell B. P., Greene K. D., Lewis J., Griffin P. M. Laboratory investigation of a multistate food-borne outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and phage typing. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Dec;32(12):3013–3017. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.12.3013-3017.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cebula T. A., Payne W. L., Feng P. Simultaneous identification of strains of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 and their Shiga-like toxin type by mismatch amplification mutation assay-multiplex PCR. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jan;33(1):248–250. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.1.248-250.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Doyle M. P., Schoeni J. L. Isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from retail fresh meats and poultry. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 Oct;53(10):2394–2396. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.10.2394-2396.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Itoh Y., Sugita-Konishi Y., Kasuga F., Iwaki M., Hara-Kudo Y., Saito N., Noguchi Y., Konuma H., Kumagai S. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 present in radish sprouts. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1998 Apr;64(4):1532–1535. doi: 10.1128/aem.64.4.1532-1535.1998. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Keene W. E., McAnulty J. M., Hoesly F. C., Williams L. P., Jr, Hedberg K., Oxman G. L., Barrett T. J., Pfaller M. A., Fleming D. W. A swimming-associated outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella sonnei. N Engl J Med. 1994 Sep 1;331(9):579–584. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199409013310904. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Khakhria R., Duck D., Lior H. Extended phage-typing scheme for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Epidemiol Infect. 1990 Dec;105(3):511–520. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800048135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kurtzweil P. Questions keep sprouting about sprouts. FDA Consum. 1999 Jan-Feb;33(1):18–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mahon B. E., Pönkä A., Hall W. N., Komatsu K., Dietrich S. E., Siitonen A., Cage G., Hayes P. S., Lambert-Fair M. A., Bean N. H. An international outbreak of Salmonella infections caused by alfalfa sprouts grown from contaminated seeds. J Infect Dis. 1997 Apr;175(4):876–882. doi: 10.1086/513985. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mead P. S., Griffin P. M. Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lancet. 1998 Oct 10;352(9135):1207–1212. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)01267-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sanderson M. W., Gay J. M., Hancock D. D., Gay C. C., Fox L. K., Besser T. E. Sensitivity of bacteriologic culture for detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in bovine feces. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Oct;33(10):2616–2619. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.10.2616-2619.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Van Beneden C. A., Keene W. E., Strang R. A., Werker D. H., King A. S., Mahon B., Hedberg K., Bell A., Kelly M. T., Balan V. K. Multinational outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Newport infections due to contaminated alfalfa sprouts. JAMA. 1999 Jan 13;281(2):158–162. doi: 10.1001/jama.281.2.158. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Wang G., Doyle M. P. Survival of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in water. J Food Prot. 1998 Jun;61(6):662–667. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-61.6.662. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Emerging Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

RESOURCES