Meridian Bioscience, Inc. Tests Detect Deadly Toxins Produced by E. coli O104 Outbreak Strain

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO) today announced that its tests detect the deadly toxins produced by the recent outbreak strain E. coli O104:H4. E. coli O104:H4 is the novel shiga toxin-producing strain associated with a number of deaths in Europe. It has also caused hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) (a type of kidney failure) in hundreds of others. In the United States, one confirmed and three suspected cases of E. coli O104:H4 infections have been identified in persons who recently traveled to Germany. One case of HUS in Massachusetts has been confirmed as matching the German outbreak strain. Among the three suspected cases, two are cases of HUS, one case each in Michigan and Wisconsin. The third suspected case, a person with shiga toxin-positive diarrheal illness, is still under investigation. (See information posted to the CDC website.) Meridian has been able to conduct testing on clinical isolates from one of these clinical samples utilizing its two distinct tests for shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and confirmed that its tests have correctly identified the samples as shiga toxin-producing and, more specifically, that it produces shiga toxin-2.