Escherichia coli O104 Associated with Human Diarrhea, South Africa, 2004–2011

Abstract

To determine the origin of >4,000 suspected diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains isolated during 2004–2011 in South Africa, we identified 7 isolates as serotype O104; 5 as enteroaggregative E. coli O104:H4, and 2 as enteropathogenic E. coli O104:non-H4. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that these isolates were unrelated to the 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain from Germany.

Keywords

• Escherichia coli
• diarrheagenic E. coli
• E. coli O104
• South Africa
• outbreak
• human diarrhea