Laboratory Practices for Stool-Specimen Culture for Bacterial Pathogens, IncludingEscherichia coliO157:H7, in the FoodNet Sites, 1995-2000

  • Voetsch, Andrew C.
  • Angulo, Frederick J.
  • Rabatsky-Ehr, Terry
  • Shallow, Sue
  • Cassidy, Maureen
  • Thomas, Stephanie M.
  • Swanson, Ellen
  • Zansky, Shelley M.
  • Hawkins, Marguerite A.
  • Jones, Timothy F.
  • Shillam, Pamela J.
  • Van Gilder, Thomas J.
  • Wells, Joy G.
  • Griffin, Patricia M.

  • 1Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta

    2Georgia Division of Public Health, Atlanta

    3Connecticut Emerging Infections Program, Yale University, New Haven

    4California Emerging Infections Program, San Francisco

    5Office for Disease Prevention and Epidemiology, Oregon Department of Human Services, Portland

    6Minnesota Department of Health, Minneapolis

    7New York State Department of Health, Albany

    8University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore

    9Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville

    10Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver

Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Frederick J. Angulo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS D63, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333 ([email protected]).

The use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Financial support: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases; US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service; and US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Working group members are listed at the end of the text.

Clinical Infectious Diseases 38:p S190-S197, April 15, 2004. | DOI: 10.1086/381586

In 2000, we surveyed microbiologists in 388 clinical laboratories, which tested an estimated 339,000 stool specimens in 1999, about laboratory methods and policies for the routine testing of stool specimens forSalmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, andVibriospecies, Yersinia entercolitica, andEscherichia coliO157:H7. The results were compared with those of similar surveys conducted in 1995 and 1997. Although these laboratories reported routinely testing forSalmonella, Shigella, andCampylobacterspecies, only 57% routinely tested forE. coliO157:H7, 50% forY. entercolitica, and 50% forVibriospecies. The mean proportions of stool specimens that yielded these pathogens were as follows:Campylobacter, 1.3% of specimens;Salmonella, 0.9%;Shigella, 0.4%; andE. coliO157:H7, 0.3%. The proportion of laboratories that routinely tested forE. coliO157:H7 increased from 59% in 1995 to 68% in 2000; however, the proportion of stool specimens tested decreased from 53% to 46%.E. coliO157:H7 should be routinely sought in stool specimens submitted for microbiologic culture.

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