Abstract
A massive outbreak of gastrointestinal illness occurred in Tajimi city, Gifu prefecture, in June of 1993 in which 2,697 children in elementary and junior high schools developed severe diarrhea. Stool specimens from 30 children with severe protracted diarrhea were studied. Twenty-seven strains of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAggEC) isolated from 12 of 30 patients all belonged to the same serotype, O untypeable (OUT):H10, and showed the same biochemical characteristics and antibiotic susceptibility pattern. These strains were negative for the virulence factors of the four standard categories of diarrheagenic E. coli (enterotoxigenic, enteropathogenic, enteroinvasive, and enterohemorrhagic). However, the isolates showed an aggregative pattern of adherence to HEp-2 cells and had a 60-MDa plasmid and an astA gene, which encodes heat-stable enterotoxin-1 production. These data suggested that the EAggEC serotype OUT:H10 was associated with this massive outbreak of gastrointestinal illness.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
