Liesegang A, Sachse U, Prager R, Claus H, Steinrück H, Aleksic S, Rabsch W, Voigt W, Fruth A, Karch H, Bockemühl J, Tschäpe H (2000): Clonal diversity of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7/H- in Germany - A ten-year study
Int. J. Med. Microbiol. 290 (3): 269-278.

Two hundred and ten E. coli O157:H7/H sup(-) strains isolated from single cases and outbreaks of diarrhoea and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in Germany between 1988 and 1998 were characterised by a range of molecular subtyping methods and phage typing in order to analyse their clonal nature. A high clonal heterogeneity, together with a considerable clonal stability, has been identified among the bacterial isolates and no single clonal type appeared to be geographically dominant. It is recommended to apply pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) together with P gene profile determination (number and genomic positions of lambdoid bacteriophages) as laboratory tools for an extended epidemiological surveillance of E. coli O157:H7/H sup(-), whereas phage typing will remain helpful as a first line of analysis, particularly in outbreak situations.