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The Conundrum of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Persistence: Evidence for Locally Persistent Lineages
Gillian A M Tarr1, William Finical1, Joshua M Rounds2
1Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Abstract:
Evidence suggests that Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains do not persist at the farm level. We hypothesized that ecosystem-level STEC persistence occurs and contributes significantly to disease burden. We tested this by identifying locally persistent lineages (LPLs) of STEC O157:H7 in Minnesota. We identified 15 distinct LPLs, which were associated with 35.3% of reported cases in Minnesota and persisted for 1.3-8.6 years. Locally persistent lineages were associated with multiple outbreaks with Minnesota sources and no multi-state outbreaks, and LPL cases were spatially clustered. Our findings show long-term persistence in defined geographic areas, suggesting the importance of ecosystem-level persistence.
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