Food Poisoning Law Firm
Pritzker Olsen Law Firm Food Safety Blog

Pritzker Olsen attorneys have appeared on CBS News, Fox news, and numerous local television stations throughout the country. They have recovered millions for victims of food poisoning outbreaks. To contact our law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

Is E. coli O157:H7 Becoming More Virulent?

A phylogenetic analysis of E. coli O157:H7 has found that recombination or recurrent mutation has contributed to the evolution of E. coli O157:H7 into more virulent strains. The research was prompted by several recent outbreaks involving E. coli O157:H7 (e.g., 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak) that were “associated with more severe disease, as defined by higher hemolytic uremic syndrome and hospitalization frequencies, suggesting that increased virulence has evolved.”

500 E. coli O157:H7 clinical strains were analyzed and separated into 9 distinct clades:
Differences were observed between clades in the frequency and distribution of Shiga toxin genes and in the type of clinical disease reported. Patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome were significantly more likely to be infected with clade 8 strains, which have increased in frequency over the past 5 years. Genome sequencing of a spinach outbreak strain, a member of clade 8, also revealed substantial genomic differences. These findings suggest that an emergent subpopulation of the clade 8 lineage has acquired critical factors that contribute to more severe disease.
Read the results of this study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

As part of this study, Thomas Whittam, Hannah Distinguished Professor at the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University and David Alland of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, two co-authors of the study, developed a new technique to test E. coli O157:H7 DNA.

Posted March 2008.

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Food Poisoning Lawyer Fred Pritzker has appeared on national television and has been quoted by national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and Lawyers USA. He has been named a "Super Lawyer" by Law and Politics magazine. He is also listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact Fred Pritzker about a food poisoning lawsuit or food safety advocacy, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit the firm's free consultation form.

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