Suspected epidemiological relationships among strains of Escherichia coli O55:B5 confirmed by restriction pattern analysis of the carried plasmid (RColBM IncFIII).

Seven strains of Escherichia coli O55:B5g, isolated from independent cases of infantile diarrhoea, contained similar RColBM plasmids beloning to incompatibility group IncFIII. Suspecting an epidemiological link among all these cases we compared the restriction pattern of the corresponding RColBM plasmids after digestion with endonucleases EcoRI and BglII. These patterns were similar, confirming the suspected relationships among the seven cases of infantile diarrhoea. The patterns obtained with the RColBM plasmids from children were different from those obtained with two RColBM plasmids isolated from adults. The probable source of the seven cases of infantile diarrhoea was identified as a nursery.