Searching for Escherichia coli O157 in drinking and recreational waters in Northern Greece

Escherichia coli O157:H7 has been recognized in sporadic cases and outbreaks, as an important cause of bloody diarrhea and also a leading cause of acute renal failure in children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of E. coli O157 in drinking and recreational water samples from Northern Greece. For this, a total of 1974 colonies of E. coli that were isolated from 1267 water samples were recultured on sorbitol-MacConkey agar. Out of them 121 were found non-sorbitol fermenting, but none had the somatic O157 antigen. This finding supports the hypothesis that drinking and recreational waters should not be considered possible routes of E. coli O157:H7 transmission in Northern Greece.