Necrotizing enterocolitis. Epidemic following an outbreak of Enterobacter cloacae type 3305573 in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Twelve cases of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) occurred within three weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with 325 annual admissions. Enterobacter cloacae type 3305573 was found in stool and/or blood cultures from affected babies prior to the onset of the disease. This bacterium could not be grown in cultures from infants in the same NICU six weeks later. A causal relationship between E cloacae and the epidemic of NEC is suggested.