Younghee Jin
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Hyunjung Seung
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Younghee Oh
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Jihun Jung
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Sujin Jeon
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Jaekyoo Lee
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
ChangKyu Kim
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Sungmin Choi
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Youngzoo Chae
(Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment)
Of total 1,438 specimens of patients with diarrhea in Seoul, 2011, 217 samples (15%) were found pathogenic Escherichia coli that included 192 strains (89%) of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). The highest isolation rate for ETEC and EAEC was found in August and September. Sixty two pathogenic E. coli strains (34 ETEC and 28 EAEC strains) were selected from 175 strains (94 ETEC and 81 EAEC strains) isolated in August and September. Of 94 strains characterized for ETEC phenotype, 76 (81%) expressed heat-stable toxin (ST) only. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out by using sixteen types of antibiotics. A high level of antimicrobial resistance to tetracycline (57%), ampicillin and ticarcillin (54%) was observed among EAEC isolates while the highest resistance rate of ETEC was found for nalidixic acid (47%), followed by tetracycline (32%). As to the antimicrobial susceptibility test, EAEC showed the complicated multi-drug resistant patterns in which the resistance was higher than ETEC. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was carried out to examine the genetic relatedness among ETEC and EAEC isolates. Except for 11 strains, 51 strains were divided by eight pulsotypes. In PFGE analysis, isolates from foodborne disease outbreaks in August and September 2011 showed close relation.