Licence K, Oates K R, Synge B A, Reid T M
Public Health Department, Highland Health Board, Beechwood Park, Inverness.
Epidemiol Infect. 2001 Feb;126(1):135-8.
An outbreak of E. coli O157 infection occurred in the Highland Region of Scotland in the summer of 1999. The source of the outbreak was traced to an untreated private water supply. All six cases identified arose in visitors to the area, and most had very limited exposure to the contaminated water. Permanent residents on the same supply were unaffected. The E. coli O157 isolates from the water, sheep faeces collected from around the source and the human stool samples were indistinguishable using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Previously reported outbreaks of E. coli O157 linked to potable water supplies have resulted from structural or treatment failures, which allowed faecal contamination of source water. Here, contamination of the water supply and subsequent human infection was due to the use of an untreated, unprotected private water source in a rural area where animals grazed freely.
1999年夏天，苏格兰高地地区爆发了大肠杆菌O157感染疫情。疫情源头追溯到未经处理的私人供水。已确认的6例病例均出现在该地区的游客中，且大多数人接触受污染水的机会非常有限。使用同一供水的常住居民未受影响。通过脉冲场凝胶电泳分析，从水中、水源周围采集的羊粪便以及人类粪便样本中分离出的大肠杆菌O157无法区分。此前报道的与饮用水供应相关的大肠杆菌O157疫情是由结构或处理故障导致的，这些故障使得原水受到粪便污染。而在此处，供水污染及随后的人类感染是由于在农村地区使用了未经处理、无保护的私人水源，那里动物可以自由放牧。
