Editorial Note

The Editorial Board of MicroBioNet invited Dr. K.A.Bettelheim to produce this list of published Vero Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) due to the great current interest in VTEC infections. Abbreviations and Notes are listed below in this Introduction. Other similar materials will be commisioned in the future. Also if any reader would be interested in providing a similar research tool for publication, an application with a brief outline of the contents should be submitted to the Editorial Board of MicroBionet:

Attn: Barbara Wagstaff
40 Hastings Road
East Hawthorn
Victoria 3123
Australia
Email bmwag@planet.net.au

Dr. Karl Bettelheim presented a poster on his VTEC Table at the VTEC 2000 Conference held in Kyoto, Japan during October, 2000. This Table was updated in May 2003.

The main emphasis with respect to Vero Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) has been on serogroup O157, particularly O157.H7 and O157.H- which have been associated with most but not all of the reported outbreaks. However, other serotypes have been isolated from patients with conditions identical to those caused by O157 strains, as well as from food stuffs, animals and environmental sources. The table presented lists the O:H serotypes, other than O157, which have been reported in the literature, with their sources and references, and consists of three sections:- (i) List of Full References; (ii) Serotypes listed by the "O" Serotypes; and (iii) Serotypes listed by the "H" Serotypes.

Serotypes O157.H7 and O157.H- have been deliberately left off the list, because there are so many references to them in the literature that they would require a separate list. Perhaps when suitable means of subtyping them are reported systematically in the world literature such as phage types or pulse-field gel electrophoresis types then a similar list could be usefully prepared.

Although many papers have been examined there will inevitably be some that have been missed. It is the intention of this site to update the tables regularly. Any author, whose results are not listed is asked to supply his/her list to us at the above address or by email to bmwag@planet.net.au.

Similarly, while all efforts have been made to ensure correct interpretation of the data in the papers listed, we would be pleased to have any corrections and comments sent to us.

This list should be treated as a working document, with ease of reference. Thus if a certain VTEC serotype is isolated from a given condition or environmental situation, then one can readily refer to the list and discover from which other sites this serotype has been found.

K.A.Bettelheim