TY - JOUR AU - Breuer, Thomas AU - Benkel, Denise H. AU - Shapiro, Roger L. AU - Hall, William N. AU - Winnett, Mary M. AU - Linn, Mary Jean AU - Neimann, Jakob AU - Barrett, Timothy J. AU - Dietrich, Stephen AU - Downes, Frances P. AU - Toney, Denise M. AU - Pearson, James L. AU - Rolka, Henry AU - Slutsker, Laurence AU - Griffin, Patricia M. T1 - A Multistate Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Alfalfa Sprouts Grown from Contaminated Seeds T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2001 VL - 7 IS - 6 SP - 977 SN - 1080-6059 AB - A multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred in the United States in June and July 1997. Two concurrent outbreaks were investigated through independent case-control studies in Michigan and Virginia and by subtyping isolates with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Isolates from 85 persons were indistinguishable by PFGE. Alfalfa sprouts were the only exposure associated with E. coli O157:H7 infection in both Michigan and Virginia. Seeds used for sprouting were traced back to one common lot harvested in Idaho. New subtyping tools such as PFGE used in this investigation are essential to link isolated infections to a single outbreak. KW - E. coli KW - Escherichia coli KW - O157:H7 KW - alfalfa sprouts KW - United States DO - 10.3201/eid0706.010609 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/7/6/01-0609_article ER - End of Reference