Investigation of an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 infection caused by environmental exposure at a scout camp

H. HOWIE; A. MUKERJEE; J. COWDEN; J. LEITH; T. REID

doi:10.1017/S0950268803001250

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In May 2000 a scout camp was held on an agricultural showground in New Deer, Aberdeenshire. There were 337 campers at the event, comprising 233 cubs, scouts, and venture scouts, and 104 adults. The event was abandoned early because of heavy rainfall. Twenty campers who became ill between 28 May and 3 June were confirmed as having E. coli O157 infection. Preliminary investigation did not suggest a food vehicle but did indicate environmental exposure at the camp as a risk factor. Subsequent investigations supported the hypothesis that transmission of E. coli O157 was from the environment to cases by contaminated hands, either directly from hand to mouth, or via food. As a result of the investigation the Aberdeenshire Council and the Scout Association jointly prepared interim guidelines to reduce the risk of E. coli O157 infection at scout camps.

Crossref Citations

This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

Mcgee, P. Scott, L. Sheridan, J.J. Earley, B. and Leonard, N. 2004. Horizontal Transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during Cattle Housing. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 67, Issue. 12, p. 2651.

Bach, Susan J. Stanford, Kim and McAllister, Timothy A. 2005. Survival ofEscherichia coliO157:H7 in feces from corn- and barley-fed steers. FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 252, Issue. 1, p. 25.

Muniesa, Maite Jofre, Juan García-Aljaro, Cristina and Blanch, Anicet R. 2006. Occurrence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Other Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in the Environment. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 40, Issue. 23, p. 7141.

Mukherjee, A. Cho, S. Scheftel, J. Jawahir, S. Smith, K. and Diez-Gonzalez, F. 2006. Soil survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 acquired by a child from garden soil recently fertilized with cattle manure. Journal of Applied Microbiology, Vol. 101, Issue. 2, p. 429.

Duffy, G. 2006. Emerging Foodborne Pathogens. p. 253.

Strachan, Norval J.C. Dunn, Geoffrey M. Locking, Mary E. Reid, Thomas M.S. and Ogden, Iain D. 2006. Escherichia coli O157: Burger bug or environmental pathogen?. International Journal of Food Microbiology, Vol. 112, Issue. 2, p. 129.

Scott, L. Mcgee, P. Sheridan, J.J. Earley, B. and Leonard, N. 2006. A Comparison of the Survival in Feces and Water of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Grown under Laboratory Conditions or Obtained from Cattle Feces. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 69, Issue. 1, p. 6.

Ogden, I.D. 2007. Microbiological Analysis of Red Meat, Poultry and Eggs. p. 55.

Sarma, Aruna V. and McLaughlin, Julie C. 2007. Clinical Research Methods for Surgeons. p. 203.

PEARL, D. L. LOUIE, M. CHUI, L. DORÉ, K. GRIMSRUD, K. M. MARTIN, S. W. MICHEL, P. SVENSON, L. W. and McEWEN, S. A. 2008. Epidemiological characteristics of reported sporadic and outbreak cases of E. coli O157 in people from Alberta, Canada (2000–2002): methodological challenges of comparing clustered to unclustered data. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 136, Issue. 4, p. 483.

Henderson, Heather 2008. Direct and indirect zoonotic transmission of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Vol. 232, Issue. 6, p. 848.

Bell, C. and Kyriakides, A. 2009. Foodborne Pathogens. p. 581.

Arinaminpathy, N. McLean, A.R. and Godfray, H.C.J. 2009. Future UK land use policy and the risk of infectious disease in humans, livestock and wild animals. Land Use Policy, Vol. 26, Issue. , p. S124.

Nyberg, Karin A. Vinnerås, Björn Ottoson, Jakob R. Aronsson, Pär and Albihn, Ann 2010. Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium in manure-amended soils studied in outdoor lysimeters. Applied Soil Ecology, Vol. 46, Issue. 3, p. 398.

GRIFFITHS, S. L. SALMON, R. L. MASON, B. W. ELLIOTT, C. THOMAS, D. Rh. and DAVIES, C. 2010. Using the internet for rapid investigation of an outbreak of diarrhoeal illness in mountain bikers. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 138, Issue. 12, p. 1704.

Pennington, Hugh 2010. Escherichia coli O157. The Lancet, Vol. 376, Issue. 9750, p. 1428.

JONES, C. D. R. HUNTER, C. WILLIAMS, A. P. STRACHAN, N. J. C. and CROSS, P. 2011. Escherichia coliO157: comparing awareness of rural residents and visitors in livestock farming areas. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 139, Issue. 10, p. 1522.

IHEKWEAZU, C. CARROLL, K. ADAK, B. SMITH, G. PRITCHARD, G. C. GILLESPIE, I. A. VERLANDER, N. Q. HARVEY-VINCE, L. REACHER, M. EDEGHERE, O. SULTAN, B. COOPER, R. MORGAN, G. KINROSS, P. T. N. BOXALL, N. S. IVERSEN, A. and BICKLER, G. 2012. Large outbreak of verocytotoxin-producingEscherichia coliO157 infection in visitors to a petting farm in South East England, 2009. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 140, Issue. 8, p. 1400.

ROTARIU, O. OGDEN, I. D. MacRITCHIE, L. FORBES, K. J. WILLIAMS, A. P. CROSS, P. HUNTER, C. J. TEUNIS, P. F. M. and STRACHAN, N. J. C. 2012. Combining risk assessment and epidemiological risk factors to elucidate the sources of humanE. coliO157 infection. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 140, Issue. 8, p. 1414.

Neil, K. P. Biggerstaff, G. MacDonald, J. K. Trees, E. Medus, C. Musser, K. A. Stroika, S. G. Zink, D. and Sotir, M. J. 2012. A Novel Vehicle for Transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to Humans: Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections Associated With Consumption of Ready-to-Bake Commercial Prepackaged Cookie Dough--United States, 2009. Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol. 54, Issue. 4, p. 511.

Download full list

Article contents

Investigation of an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 infection caused by environmental exposure at a scout camp

Abstract

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests