An Outbreak of Mixed Food Borne Infection with Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli O25:H42, O169:H41 and the Infection Route of Causative Bacteria

Abstract

An outbreak of mixed food borne infection with 2 serotypes of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli occurred twice at a wedding hall in Osaka during the period from September 11 through 23, 1993. During the first outbreak, 776 out of 1242 persons were affected, while 350 out of 627 persons were affected during the second outbreak. The major clinical symptoms observed among patients in both cases were diarrhea and abdominal pain. E. coli O25:H42 and O169:H41 were isolated from the feces of the patients (first outbreak), and were confirmed to produce heat stable toxin (ST). We succeeded in detecting E. coli O169:H41 from the incriminated food (Kaiseki Ryouri). This may be the first report of an enterotoxigenie E. coli isolated from incriminated food as the cause of outbreak in Japan.