Isolation and identification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a Taiwanese patient with bloody diarrhea and acute renal failure.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a frequent foodborne pathogen in many developed countries. Outbreaks of this infection have been reported in countries all over the world. The first clinical case of E. coli O157:H7 infection from Taiwan was reported in a 6- year-old boy who had returned from USA in August 2001. In this paper, we describe the results of the isolation and identification of this strain, and molecular typing for comparison with previously reported strains. Biochemical and molecular biological tests were used to confirm that this patient, who developed bloody diarrhea and kidney failure as a result of the infection, was indeed infected with E. coli O157:H7. None of the patients' close contacts were affected. Molecular typing by use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed this clinical strain to have a unique genotype, which is different from all available clinical strains reported from Japan and environmental strains reported from Taiwan. America Type Culture Collection reference strains and an out-break strain from USA had the nearest relationships with this clinical isolate. Molecular typing showed that this infection by E. coli O157:H7 was not derived from the local environmental strains and was acquired during overseas travel.