Escherichia coli ehl1 gene-positive serotype O18ac:H31 associated with an outbreak of diarrhea in a neonatal nursery in Neuquén City, Argentina.

Between 9 October and 12 November 1996, an outbreak of bloody diarrhea occurred in the neonatal nursery ward of the Policlínico Neuquén, in Neuquén, a city in the southwestern region of Argentina. Seven patients of the intermediate care unit were affected. Isolates of Escherichia coli O18ac:H31 that were non-lactose and -sorbitol fermenting were recovered from outbreak cases.