SEARCHING FOR ESCHERICHIA-COLI O157 IN DRINKING AND RECREATIONAL WATERS IN NORTHERN GREECE

Escherichia coil O157:H7 has been recognized in sporadic cases and out breaks, as an important cause of bloody diarrhea and also a leading ca use of acute renal failure in children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of E. coli O157 in drinking and recreation al water samples from Northern Greece. For this, a total of 1974 colon ies of E. call that were isolated from 1267 water samples were recultu red on sorbitol-MacConkey agar. Out of them 121 were found non-sorbito l fermenting, but none had the somatic O157 antigen. This finding supp orts the hypothesis that drinking and recreational waters should not b e considered possible routes of E. coli O157:H7 transmission in Northe rn Greece.