Escherichia coli O111:H8 outbreak among teenage campers--Texas, 1999.

In June 1999, the Tarrant County Health Department reported to the Texas Department of Health (TDH) that a group of teenagers attending a cheerleading camp during June 9-11 became ill with nausea, vomiting, severe abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, some of which was bloody. Two teenagers were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and two others underwent appendectomies. Routine stool cultures from eight ill persons failed to yield a pathogen. Stools subsequently were sent to laboratories at the Texas Department of Health and CDC, where Escherichia coli O111:H8 was isolated from two specimens. This report summarizes the investigation of this outbreak.