Distribution of the O-Genotypes of Escherichia albertii Isolated from Humans and Environmental Water in Akita Prefecture, Japan

[摘要] Serological typing is useful for epidemiologicalstudies of various pathogens. In the case ofenterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, a majority ofthe reported outbreaks have been attributed to severalserogroups (i.e.，O26，O111,and O157). In Japan,there have been an increasing number of reports on theisolation of E. albertii during human gastroenteritisoutbreaks, a newly recognized enteric pathogen thatis closely related to E.coli (1).E. albertii is sub-clinically carried by wild and domestic birds (2),and has been isolated from various animals ( 3 ).Furthermore，E. albertii has been widely detected inthe environmental water of the Akita prefecture,Japan(4).A comprehensive scheme for the serological typingof E. alberti strains did not exist until recently, whenOoka et al.(5) developed the O-antigen classificationmethod called EAO-genotyping.Therefore, little isknown about the prevalence of different E. albertiiserotypes.The aim of this study was to determine thedistribution of O-genotypes of E. albertii strains derivedfrom humans and environmental water of the Akitaprefecture.

[学科分类] 传染病学