Outbreak of Enterohemorrhagic <i>Escherichia coli</i> O157:H7 Infection Associated with Minced Meat Cutlets Consumption in Kanagawa, Japan

• DOI: 10.7883/yoken.jjid.2017.495
• Publication Date: 2018-07-30T22:35:15Z
• Authors: Ichiro Furukawa; Miyuki Suzuki; Tomoka Masaoka; Naoki Nakajima; Eriko Mitani; Masako Tasaka; Hiroshi Teranishi; Yuko Matsumoto; Mitsumasa Koizumi; Atsuko Ogawa; Yoshimi Oota; Sachiko Homma; Kuniharu Sasaki; Hiroki Satoh; Ken Sato; Shunichi Muto; Yayoiko Anan; Toshiro Kuroki
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Meat; Adolescent; Escherichia coli O157; Disease Outbreaks; Foodborne Diseases; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Japan; Humans; Child; Escherichia coli Infections; Aged; 2. Zero hunger; 0303 health sciences; Infant; Feeding Behavior; Middle Aged; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; 3. Good health; Molecular Typing; Child, Preschool; Female

An outbreak of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 infection occurred in October 2016 in Kanagawa, Japan. A total of 61 patients and 17 asymptomatic cases of EHEC O157:H7 infection were confirmed by laboratory testing. Among them, 24 patients were hospitalized and 4 developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome. An epidemiological investigation revealed that this outbreak of EHEC O157:H7 infection was associated with the consumption of uncooked minced meat cutlets that were sold frozen at branches of a supermarket chain. The implicated uncooked meat cutlets were made of a mixture of minced beef, pork, onions, and eggs. All 40 meat cutlets tested from one particular batch were positive for EHEC O157:H7. The patterns observed on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of strains isolated from the affected patients and meat cutlets were identical. The bacterial counts of EHEC O157:H7 and E. coli in meat cutlets ranged from 2.3 to 110 most-probable-number (MPN)/g and from 240 to 4,600 MPN/g, respectively. There are currently no national regulatory standards to ensure the safety of these types of meat products in Japan. Consumers should ensure that such products are cooked thoroughly and that safe food handling procedures are used to prevent infection.