Escherichia coli (E. coli)

The information provided is offered as a resource for Wisconsin Laboratories and Health Care Facilities

• Description of Wisconsin Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Program (PDF)


• Submitting Enteric Isolates to the WSLH
  • The WSLH requests that clinical laboratories submit all isolates of the following to the WSLH for fee-exempt PFGE (pulsed field gel electrophoresis) analysis:
    • Campylobacter species
    • Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC)
    • Enrichment broths or STEC isolates from Shiga toxin-positive EIA stool specimens
    • E. coli O157:H7 isolates
    • Non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) isolates
    • Listeria monocytogenes
    • Salmonella species
    • Shigella species
    • Yersinia species
    • Vibrio species.
    • Any unexpected clusters of other organisms of public health significance
  
  

Please send isolates as they are recovered to allow timely analysis instead of saving them to send in batches.

• WEPS Requisition Form

Isolates may be submitted to the WSLH as part of the WEPS program with a WSLH Requisition Form “CDD A”. 

• Result Reports:  Identification and serotyping results will be reported if applicable.


• Packaging Instructions: Most isolates may be packaged, labeled and transported as “Biological Substance, Category B” materials, except isolates of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, and suspected Yersinia pestis, which should be packaged, labeled and transported as “Category A, Infectious substance affecting humans” materials.
  
  It is the submitter’s responsibility to ensure that specimens are appropriately packaged to prevent leakage and meet regulatory requirements.
    
• Packaging Supplies:  Mailers are available free of charge from the WSLH Clinical Orders department. Contact the WSLH Clinical Orders Department (1-800-862-1088 or 608-265-2966) to order a shipping container (WSLH Kit # 10 Mailer for Enteric Bacterial samples).  WSLH shipping containers are provided at no cost to Wisconsin facilities and agencies.
   
• Transport Arrangements: For transport, contact the Dunham Express office in your area and refer to account number 7271 for enteric bacterial isolates. Transport of bacterial isolates being submitted for the WEPS program is available through the Dunham Express courier service at no cost to the submitter.


• WSLH Contact:  Contact Tim Monson at the WSLH at 608-262-3302 if you have questions about submitting enteric bacterial isolates to the WSLH.

E. coli O157:H7

Resources

• CDC Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases Escherichia coli O157:H7 Webpage

• MedlinePlus Health Topic E. Coli Infections

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-National Institutes of Health E. Coli Infections Information Webpage

• Wisconsin Department of Health Services E. coli O157:H7 Infections Disease Fact Sheet

E. coli non-O157:H7

Resources

• MedlinePlus Health Topic E. Coli Infections

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-National Institutes of Health E. Coli Infections Information Webpage

Return to Communicable Disease Home Page