A Proposal of Genomic Analytical Workflow in a Bacterial Pathogen Outbreak Investigation

The German Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak causing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) started in early May 2011. Conventional typing methods including serotyping, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) seemed to yield only limited information about the causative agent. The advantages of the Genome sequencing approach are apparent compared to conventional methods. Genome sequencing and analyses with an appropriate workflow would be the new paradigm in bacterial outbreak investigation.