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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Detection of Live Escherichia coli O157:H7 Cells by PMA-qPCR
Published on: February 1, 2014
Outbreak caused by cad-negative Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O111, Oklahoma
Veronica E Calderon1, Qing Chang, Mike McDermott
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-1070, USA.
Abstract:
An outbreak of severe diarrheal illness was recently reported in northeastern Oklahoma, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli serotype O111 was identified as the etiological agent. Our results indicated that this isolate is unable to decarboxylate lysine, a characteristic that is shared with other outbreak-linked O111 isolates. Therefore, further investigation is recommended to determine whether the lysine decarboxylase test could be used to identify a subset of pathogenic E. coli, particularly Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O111 isolates, that have the potential of causing human infections and outbreaks.
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