Editorial commentary: Rapid detection and investigation of an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections: Shoe-leather epidemiology on and around the strawberry farm

摘要

Ill this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Laidler and colleagues from the Oregon Public Health Division and Washington County describe their investigation of an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with locally grown strawberries. The report describes how they identified strawberries as a novel vehicle for infection and documents black-tailed deer as the reservoir animal that contaminated the strawberry fields. However, what is most striking about this report is not that strawberries were identified as a novel vehicle, or even that the strawberries were contaminated by deer feces, but that the investigation was performed so rapidly, so thoroughly, and so creatively: classic shoe-leather epidemiology at its best.