New Virulent Bacterial Strain Identified As Cause Of European Outbreak

Researchers from BGI China have identified a virulent new strain of Escherichia coli as the cause of the recent outbreak in Europe.

AsianScientist (Jun. 2, 2011) – The recent outbreak of an E. coli infection in Germany has resulted in serious concerns about the potential appearance of a new deadly strain of bacteria.

In response to this situation, and immediately after the reports of deaths, researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and BGI-Shenzhen began sequencing the bacterium to assess its human health risk.

Upon receiving the bacterial DNA sample, BGI-Shenzhen completed the sequence within three days and carried out a preliminary analysis that shows the current infection is caused by an entirely new virulent E. coli strain.

Subsequent bioinformatics analysis revealed this new E. coli strain to be highly infectious and toxic. The analysis further showed that this deadly bacterium carries several antibiotic resistance genes, including resistance to aminoglycoside, macrolides, and beta-lactam antibiotics: all of which makes antibiotic treatment extremely difficult.

At least 17 people have died in Europe from the epidemic and over 1,000 new cases of infection have also been reported in other parts of Europe, including Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, and others. The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf received the majority of the infected patients from northern Germany and found that antibiotic treatment was ineffective.

The current draft sequence of this new E. coli strain is available for immediate download at ftp://ftp.genomics.org.cn/pub/Ecoli_TY-2482. (To obtain immediate updates see Twitter: @BGI_Events.)

Jul. 28, 2011 Update:
The study on Genomic Analysis of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 was published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study revealed for the first time that rapid open-source analysis of an outbreak-associated bacterial pathogen can play a significant role in public health emergencies.

The article can be found at: Rohde S et al. (2011) Open-Source Genomic Analysis of Shiga-Toxin–Producing E. coli O104:H4.

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Source: BGI.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Yew Chung is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.

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