Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 infection associated with a music festival

Seven persons who attended the Glastonbury Music Festival were infected wit h Vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 and an eighth person had s erological evidence of infection. Cases were reported from different parts of England. Patients were interviewed by telephone about clinical symptoms, festival attendance, camping details, food history, water exposure, and co ntact with mud and animals. The interviews identified no common food source , differing use of water sources and widely dispersed camping sites. Escher ichia coli O157 strains from seven persons and from a cow belonging to a he rd that had previously grazed the site all belonged to phage type 2 and pos sessed genes for Vero cytotoxin 2. Drug resistance and DNA-based tests show ed that six patients were infected with strains indistinguishable from each other and from the bovine isolate. The most likely vehicle of infection wa s mud contaminated with Escherichia coli O157 from infected cattle.