DIN CEN ISO/TS 13136:2013-04

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause severe diseases in humans such as haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Although STEC may belong to a large number of serogroups, those that have been firmly associated with the most severe forms of the disease, in particular HUS, belong to O157, O26, O111, O103, and O145 and represent the target group of this Technical Specification. This Technical Specification is a test standard. It describes the identification of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) by means of the detection of the following genes: a) the major virulence genes of STEC, stx and eae; b) the genes associated with the serogroups O157, O111, O26, O103, and O145. In any case, when one or both of the stx genes is/are detected, the isolation of the strain is attempted. The isolation of STEC from samples positive for the presence of the genes specifying the serogroups in the scope of this method can be facilitated by using serogroup-specific enrichment techniques (for example, immunomagnetic separation, IMS). The described method uses real-time PCR as the reference technology for detection of the virulence and serogroup-associated genes. This Technical Specification is applicable to: 1) products intended for human consumption and the feeding of animals; 2) environmental samples in the area of food production and food handling; 3) environmental samples in the area of primary production. This Technical Specification serves for the consumer protection. Committee NA 057-01-06 AA "Mikrobiologische Lebensmitteluntersuchung einschließlich Schnellverfahren" ("Microbiological analysis of foodstuffs including rapid method") at DIN is responsible for this Technical Specification.