Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Aug 19:7:211-22.
doi: 10.2147/IDR.S49081. eCollection 2014.

E. coli O157 outbreaks in the United Kingdom: past, present, and future

Thomas Hugh Pennington  1
Affiliations
Review

E. coli O157 outbreaks in the United Kingdom: past, present, and future

Thomas Hugh Pennington. Infect Drug Resist. .

Abstract

This review describes Escherichia coli O157 outbreaks in the United Kingdom, beginning from the first, in the 1980s, to those recorded in 2013. We point out that the United Kingdom differs from other countries, particularly the United States, in that it has had a considerable number of outbreaks associated with butchers, but very few caused by contaminated burgers. Two of the butcher-associated outbreaks (in central Scotland in 1996 and South Wales in 2005) were very large and are considered here in detail; the reviewer conducted detailed investigations into both outbreaks. Also considered is the very large outbreak that occurred in visitors to an open farm in Surrey in 2009. Detailed descriptions of some milk-borne outbreaks and incidents connected with camping and childrens' nurseries have been published, and these are also considered in this review. Large outbreaks in the United Kingdom have sometimes led to policy developments regarding food safety, and these are considered, together with public reactions to them, their health effect, and their value, as examples to follow or eschew in terms of the procedures to be adopted in response to incidents of this kind. Regulatory and legal consequences are also considered. As a wise man said, making predictions is difficult, particularly about the future. This review follows this position but points out that although human infections caused by E. coli O157 are rare in the United Kingdom, their incidence has not changed significantly in the last 17 years. This review points out that although a response to an outbreak is to say "lessons must be learned", this response has been tempered by forgetfulness. Accordingly, this review restricts its recommendations regarding outbreaks to two: the crucial importance of a rapid response and the importance of experience, and even "gut feeling", when an inspector is evaluating the safety of a food business.

Keywords: E. coli O157; UK; outbreaks.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epidemic curve, Central Scotland 1996 outbreak. Note: Data from Pennington. Abbreviations: Nov, November; Dec, December.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Epidemic curve, Church Hall component of the Central Scotland outbreak.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Epidemic curve, South Wales 2005 outbreak. Notes: © Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO; 2009. Pennington TH. The Public Inquiry into the September 2005 Outbreak of E. coli O157 in South Wales. Aberdeen: HMSO; 2009. Available from: http://wales.gov.uk/ecolidocs/3008707/reporten.pdf?skip=1&lang=en. Abbreviation: NPHS, Public Health Service for Wales.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Epidemic curve, New Deer scout camp 2000 outbreak.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Escherich T. Die Darmbacterien des Sauglings. [The intestinal bacteria of infants] In: Bollinger O, editor. Arbeiten aus dem Pathologischen Institut zu Munchen. Stuttgart, Germany: Ferdinand Enke; 1886. pp. 1–180. German.
    1. O’Brien AD, Kaper JB. Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In: Kaper JB, O’Brien AD, editors. Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Other Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Strains. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology; 1998. pp. 1–11.
    1. Tarr PI, Gordon CA, Chandler WL. Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli and haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Lancet. 2005;365(9464):1073–1086. - PubMed
    1. Pennington H. Escherichia coli O157. Lancet. 2010;376(9750):1428–1435. - PubMed
    1. Review of the major outbreak of E. coli O157 in Surrey, 2009. Report of the Independent Investigation Committee June 2010. [Accessed: December 30, 2013]. Available from: http://www.griffininvestigation.org.uk.