i hope this helps because knowledge is power and e. coli has been around for a good long time and has morphed more than once as you can see..i What Is
E. coli is a common type of bacteria that can get into food, like beef and vegetables. E. coli is short for the medical term Escherichia coli. The strange thing about these bacteria — and lots of other bacteria — is that they're not always harmful to you.
E. coli normally lives inside your intestines, where it helps your body break down and digest the food you eat. Unfortunately, certain types (called strains) of E. coli can get from the intestines into the blood. This is a rare illness, but it can cause a very serious infection.
Someone who has E. coli infection may have these symptoms:
•bad stomach cramps and belly pain
•vomiting
•diarrhea, sometimes with blood in it
One very bad strain of E. coli was found in fresh spinach in 2006 and some fast-food hamburgers in 1993. Beef can contain E. coli because the bacteria often infect cattle. It can be in meat that comes from cattle and it's also in their poop, called manure. Cow poop in your food? How does that happen? Not on purpose, of course, but it can happen if the manure is used for fertilizer (a common practice to help crops grow) or if water contaminated with E. coli is used to irrigate the crops.
Foods to WatchE. coli can be passed from person to person, but serious E. coli infection is more often linked to food containing the bacteria. The person eats the contaminated food and gets sick.
Here are some foods that can cause E. coli poisoning:
undercooked ground beef (used for hamburgers)vegetables grown in cow manure or washed in contaminated waterfruit juice that isn't pasteurized (pasteurization is a process that uses heat to kill germs)Heat can kill E. coli, so experts recommend that people cook beef (especially ground beef) until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Choosing pasteurized juice is another way to avoid possible infection.
Lastly, some experts recommend washing and scrubbing vegetables before eating them. But others say E. coli is hard to remove once it has contaminated produce, such as spinach, lettuce, or onions. The solution, they say, is to take more steps so that E. coli doesn't come in contact with crops.
What Will the Doctor Do?If someone has symptoms of E. coli poisoning, the doctor will run some blood tests and take a sample of the person's stool (poop). The blood and stool can be checked to see if a harmful strain of E. coli is present. Even though diarrhea is one of the main symptoms, the person shouldn't take anti-diarrhea medicines because they can slow down recovery time.
Some people recover at home, while others need to be in the hospital. In some cases, E. coli poisoning can cause life-threatening kidney problems.
BackContinue
ListenWhat Can Kids Do?Adults are the main people in charge of preventing E. coli infection by serving well-cooked meat, cleaning countertops when preparing meats, and being aware of any recalls affecting contaminated vegetables or other products.
But kids can help, too. Here are three ways:
When you're at a restaurant, order your burger well done. Eat it only if it's brown, not pink, on the inside.Don't swallow lake, ocean, or pool water. If the water contains any human waste, it can carry the E. coli bacteria.Always wash your hands after you use the bathroom and before you eat. There are plenty of bacteria in your poop. Gross! You don't want to accidentally eat some of those bad bacteria!Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Foods to Watch
E. coli can be passed from person to person, but serious E. coli infection is more often linked to food containing the bacteria. The person eats the contaminated food and gets sick.
Here are some foods that can cause E. coli poisoning:
•undercooked ground beef (used for hamburgers)
•vegetables grown in cow manure or washed in contaminated water
•fruit juice that isn't pasteurized (pasteurization is a process that uses heat to kill germs)
Heat can kill E. coli, so experts recommend that people cook beef (especially ground beef) until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Choosing pasteurized juice is another way to avoid possible infection.
Lastly, some experts recommend washing and scrubbing vegetables before eating them. But others say E. coli is hard to remove once it has contaminated produce, such as spinach, lettuce, or onions. The solution, they say, is to take more steps so that E. coli doesn't come in contact with crops.
What Will the Doctor Do?
If someone has symptoms of E. coli poisoning, the doctor will run some blood tests and take a sample of the person's stool (poop). The blood and stool can be checked to see if a harmful strain of E. coli is present. Even though diarrhea is one of the main symptoms, the person shouldn't take anti-diarrhea medicines because they can slow down recovery time.
Some people recover at home, while others need to be in the hospital. In some cases, E. coli poisoning can cause life-threatening kidney problems.
BackContinueListenWhat Can Kids Do?Adults are the main people in charge of preventing E. coli infection by serving well-cooked meat, cleaning countertops when preparing meats, and being aware of any recalls affecting contaminated vegetables or other products.
But kids can help, too. Here are three ways:
When you're at a restaurant, order your burger well done. Eat it only if it's brown, not pink, on the inside.Don't swallow lake, ocean, or pool water. If the water contains any human waste, it can carry the E. coli bacteria.Always wash your hands after you use the bathroom and before you eat. There are plenty of bacteria in your poop. Gross! You don't want to accidentally eat some of those bad bacteria!Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/ecoli.html#.......................................................................................................................................
E. coli
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are members of a large group of bacterial germs that inhabit the intestinal tract of humans and other warm-blooded animals (mammals, birds). Newborns have a sterile alimentary tract, which within two days becomes colonized with E. coli.
More than 700 serotypes of E. coli have been identified. The “O” and “H” antigens on their bodies and flagella distinguish the different E. coli serotypes, respectively. The E. coli serotypes that are responsible for the numerous reports of outbreaks traced to the consumption of contaminated foods and beverages are those that produce Shiga toxin (Stx), so called because the toxin is virtually identical to that produced by another bacteria known as Shigella dysenteria type 1 (that also causes bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome [HUS] in emerging countries like Bangladesh) (Griffin & Tauxe, 1991, p. 60, 73). The best-known and most notorious Stx-producing E. coli is E. coli O157:H7. It is important to remember that most kinds of E. coli bacteria do not cause disease in humans, indeed, some are beneficial, and some cause infections other than gastrointestinal infections, such urinary tract infections. This section deals specifically with Stx-producing E. coli, including specifically E. coli O157:H7.
Shiga toxin is one of the most potent toxins known to man, so much so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists it as a potential bioterrorist agent (CDC, n.d.). It seems likely that DNA from Shiga toxin-producing Shigella bacteria was transferred by a bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) to otherwise harmless E. coli bacteria, thereby providing them with the genetic material to produce Shiga toxin.
Although E. coli O157:H7 is responsible for the majority of human illnesses attributed to E. coli, there are additional Stx-producing E. coli (e.g., E. coli O121:H19) that can also cause hemorrhagic colitis and post-diarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (D+HUS). HUS is a syndrome that is defined by the trilogy of hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells), thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), and acute kidney failure.
Stx-producing E. coli organisms have several characteristics that make them so dangerous. They are hardy organisms that can survive several weeks on surfaces such as counter tops, and up to a year in some materials like compost. They have a very low infectious dose meaning that only a relatively small number of bacteria (fewer than 50) are needed “to set-up housekeeping” in a victim’s intestinal tract and cause infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that every year at least 2000 Americans are hospitalized, and about 60 die as a direct result of E. coli infection and its complications. A recent study estimated the annual cost of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses to be $405 million (in 2003 dollars), which included $370 million for premature deaths, $30 million for medical care, and $5 million for lost productivity (Frenzen, Drake, and Angulo, 2005).
E. coli O157:H7—a foodborne pathogen
E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a foodborne pathogen in 1982 during an investigation into an outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis (bloody diarrhea) associated with the consumption of contaminated hamburgers (Riley, et al., 1983). The following year, Shiga toxin (Stx), produced by the then little-known E. coli O157:H7, was identified as the real culprit.
In the ten years following the 1982 outbreak, approximately thirty E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks were recorded in the United States (Griffin & Tauxe, 1991). The actual number that occurred is probably much higher because E. coli O157:H7 infections did not become a reportable disease (required to be reported to public health authorities) until 1987 (Keene et al., 1991 p. 60, 73). As a result, only the most geographically concentrated outbreaks would have garnered enough attention to prompt further investigation (Keene et al., 1991 p. 583). It is important to note that only about 10 percent of infections occur in outbreaks, the rest are sporadic.
The CDC has estimated that 85 percent of E. coli O157:H7 infections are foodborne in origin (Mead, et al., 1999). In fact, consumption of any food or beverage that becomes contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure can result in contracting the disease. Foods that have been identified as sources of contamination include ground beef, venison, sausages, dried (non-cooked) salami, unpasteurized milk and cheese, unpasteurized apple juice and cider (Cody, et al., 1999), orange juice, alfalfa and radish sprouts (Breuer, et al., 2001), lettuce, spinach, and water (Friedman, et al., 1999). Pizza and cookie dough have also been identified as sources of E. coli outbreaks.
Sources of E. coli infection
E. coli O157:H7 bacteria and other pathogenic E. coli is believed to mostly live in the intestines of cattle (Elder, et al., 2000) but has also been found in the intestines of chickens, deer, sheep, and pigs.
A 2003 study on the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in livestock at 29 county and three large state agricultural fairs in the United States found that E. coli O157:H7 could be isolated from 13.8 percent of beef cattle, 5.9 percent of dairy cattle, 3.6 percent of pigs, 5.2 percent of sheep, and 2.8 percent of goats. Over seven percent of pest fly pools also tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 (Keen et al., 2003).
Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli does not make the animals that carry it ill. The animals are merely the reservoir for the bacteria.
E. coli can be transmitted from several sources:
Food
Water
Animals
Humans
Foodborne Transmission of Stx-Producing E. coli
E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a food borne pathogen in 1982 during an investigation into an outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis (bloody diarrhea) associated with consumption of contaminated hamburgers (Riley, et al., 1983). The following year, Shiga toxin (Stx), produced by the then little-known E. coli O157:H7, was identified as the real culprit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Enteric Disease Branch, released a report dated September 14, 2009 entitled “Update on the Epidemiology of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in the United States”. The contents of this timely report have been incorporated into this Web piece. CDC’s estimates of the annual number of illnesses caused by Stx-producing E. coli (both O157:H7 and non O157:H7) are as follows:
E. coli O157
73,000 illnesses
2200 hospitalizations
61 deaths
Non-O157 STEC
36,700 illnesses
1100 hospitalizations
30 deaths
E. coli infections continue to largely be a foodborne illness.
For the period of 1998-2007 during which there were 334 outbreaks (7864 illnesses), the vehicles for the infections were as follows:
E. coli O157:H7
Foodborne: 69%
Waterborne: 18%
Animals or their environment: 8%
Person-to-person: 6%
Non-O157:H7
Foodborne: 83%
Waterborne: 9%
Animals or their environment: 5%
Person-to-person: 4%
According to the cited recent CDC report, the mode (kind of food) causing illness secondary to E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks have changed in the past several years. (Note the emergence of leafy vegetables).
E. coli O157:H7
http://www.about-ecoli.com/