Eurosurveillance report reveals characteristics of the German outbreak strain of E.coli and diagnostic screening toolsArchived

  On June 14, Eurosurveillance published new information on the characteristics of the German outbreak strain of E.coli and how these microbiological findings have been shared in real time by public health microbiology experts to disseminate best laboratory practice for case detection and public health investigations across Europe and beyond. In the Eurosurveillance issue a collaborative group of investigators report several findings on the nature and possible origin of the epidemic strain.The Escherichia coli strain causing a large outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and bloody diarrhoea in Germany in May and June 2011 possesses an unusual combination of pathogenic features typical of enteroaggregative E. coli together with the capacity to produce Shiga toxin. The article goes on to describes simple diagnostic screening tools to detect the outbreak strain in clinical specimens and a novel real-time PCR for its detection in foods.These findings can help to identify the ecological reservoir and evolutionary origin of the epidemic agent, understand better the biological determinants of unusual disease severity and clinical complications, as well as to contribute to the design of specific diagnostic tools for detection and treatment and the identification of the epidemic strain for accurate outbreak monitoring.In addition, ECDC published an updated rapid risk assessment ’Outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in Germany’ as part of its monitoring and surveillance work. Specifically, the risk assessment looked into the unusual increase Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections in Germany, with patients presenting with haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and bloody diarrhoea.