Abstract

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroup O157 is a zoonotic, foodborne gastrointestinal pathogen of major public health concern. We describe the epidemiology of STEC O157 infection in England by exploring the microbiological and clinical characteristics, the demographic and geographical distribution of cases, and examining changes in environmental exposures over 11 years of enhanced surveillance. Enhanced surveillance data including microbiological subtyping, clinical presentations and exposures were extracted for all cases resident in England with evidence of STEC O157 infection, either due to faecal culture or serology detection. Incidence rates were calculated based on mid-year population estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Demographics, geography, severity and environmental exposures were compared across the time periods 2009–2014 and 2015–2019.

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