Division Laboratory Criteria

At least one of the following four:

• Isolation/cultivation of Escherichia coli that produces Shiga toxin/verocytotoxin or harbours stx1/vtx1 or stx2/vtx2 gene(s)

• Isolation of non-sorbitol-fermenting (NSF) Escherichia coli O157 (without testing for the toxin or toxin-producing genes)

• Direct detection of stx1/vtx1 or stx2/vtx2 gene(s) nucleic acid

• Direct detection of free Shiga toxin/verocytotoxin in faeces

Only for HUS the following can be used as a laboratory criterion to confirm STEC/VTEC:

• Escherichia coli serogroup-specific (LPS) antibody response