National Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 Phage Type 32 in Scotland (September - October 2015) - Report of the Incident Management Team

On Wednesday 30 September 2015, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) were informed by the Scottish E. coli O157 / VTEC Reference Laboratory (SERL​) of six cases of E. coli O157 Phage Type (PT) 32 with an indistinguishable Multilocus Variable Number Tandem Repeat Analysis (MLVA) pattern.

​In total twelve cases of E. coli O157 PT 32 were identified in relation to this incident. Following its investigations, the IMT concluded that the most likely source of the outbreak was venison products which had been purchased raw and cooked at home.

This report describes the investigation and findings of the IMT and the control measures implemented, and sets out the lessons learned and recommendations from this incident.