E. Coli Case

All cases of the E.coli outbreak diagnosed among residents of Michigan from June 15th to July 15th 1997 were identified by the michigan Department of Community Health based on laboratory reports. The first step we took to prove our hypothesis was to consider why there was an increase in reported cases and if the possible outbreak was due to contaminated food, water contamination or person to person contact. The information we needed to determine which of these explanations was likely the cause was isolates of E.coli from clinical laboratories. A laboratory study can help determine if the increased number of cases are a result form a common outbreak. If not already known, it would be helpful to consult with staff from the laboratory to collect information including, change in staff, problems with lab procedures, changes with lab procedures, and changes in reporting …show more content…
It is also important to get information about changes in population, and characteristics of the cases involved. Our method of determining if the cases were related was by performing an DNA fingerprinting by Pulsed field gel electrophoresis. In DNA fingerprinting, bacteria is cut and the pieces are separated by placing in jelly-like substance. Smaller pieces move through the gel quicker than larger pieces which results in separation of DNA into distinct bands.If the DNA is different it will result in a different banding patterns but based on figure one in appendix E five out of the seven isolates were indistinguishable from each other. The DNA fingerprinting we performed showed that 17 of the first 19 E.coli isolates were identical and did not match any isolates from E.coli cases before