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Escherichia coli

What is Escherichia coli?

Escherichia coli is a gram negative bacterium that is a member of the normal gut flora of humans and animals.

However, many E. coli carry virulence factors which enable them to be pathogenic in target hosts. These pathogenic E. coli are implicated in a number of diseases including diarrhoea, septicaemia and urinary tract infections in humans and animals.

Of particular interest are E. coli with zoonotic potential such as VTEC O157:H7 which is carried mainly by ruminants as a commensal, but can cause severe disease in susceptible humans. Humans are usually infected from consumption of contaminated meat or via direct contact with infected farm animals and their environments.