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Human Escherichia coli O157[ratio ]H7 infection associated with the consumption of unpasteurized goat's milk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 1997

M. BIELASZEWSKA
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Microbiology, The 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
J. JANDA
Affiliation:
1st Clinic of Paediatrics, University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
K. BLÁHOVÁ
Affiliation:
1st Clinic of Paediatrics, University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
H. MINAŘÍKOVÁ
Affiliation:
District Public Health Institute, Teplice, Czech Republic
E. JÍKOVÁ
Affiliation:
Regional Public Health Institute, Ústí n.Labem, Czech Republic
M. A. KARMALI
Affiliation:
Division of Microbiology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
J. LAUBOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, Masaryk Hospital, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
J. šIKULOVÁ
Affiliation:
Animal Health Service, Teplice, Czech Republic
M. A. PRESTON
Affiliation:
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
R. KHAKHRIA
Affiliation:
National Laboratory for Enteric Pathogens, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
H. KARCH
Affiliation:
Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie der Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
H. KLAZAROVÁ
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Microbiology, The 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
O. NYČ
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Microbiology, The 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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Abstract

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A cluster of four cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome in children occurred in Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic, between 15 June and 7 July, 1995. All the cases had significantly elevated titres of anti-O157 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies as detected by the indirect haemagglutination assay. All but one of them had drunk unpasteurized goat's milk from the same farm within the week before the disease. Evidence of E. coli O157 infection was subsequently found in 5 of 15 regular drinkers of the farm's raw goat's milk; four of them were asymptomatic, 1 had mild diarrhoea at the end of June. Verocytotoxin 2-producing E. coli O157[ratio ]H7 strains of phage type 2 and of identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns were isolated from 1 of 2 farm goats and from 1 of the asymptomatic goat's milk drinkers. The frequency of anti-O157 LPS antibodies found among regular drinkers of the farm's raw goat's milk (33%; 5 of 15) was significantly higher than that found in control population (0%; none of 45) (P=0·0005; Fisher's exact test). Our findings indicate that goats may be a reservoir of E. coli O157[ratio ]H7 and a source of the infection for humans; raw goat's milk may serve as a vehicle of the pathogen transmission.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press