Surveillance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Romania

Escherichia coli strains of serogroup O157 are the most commonly isolated verocytotoxin-producing (VTEC) strains worldwide. Romania has a low incidence of infections caused by strains of such serogroup, so little is known about the E. coli O157 population that circulates across the locals. Therefore, we have investigated all the E. coli O157 human isolates collected by the national reference laboratory in 2016 and 2017. The aim of this study was to characterize E. coli O157 clinical isolates originated from Romanian patients and to compare their phenotypic and genetic traits to those characteristic of EHEC.