Escherichia Coli And Its Effects On Our Health

BACKGROUND – E. coli is a food-borne bacterium that inhabits the bowels of warm blooded creatures such as humans and animals. If the individual is infected by E. coli, some symptoms can be “diarrhea, gas, abdominal cramping, fatigue, fever and vomiting.” (Pietrangelo”) If someone is infected with this bacterium, anti-biotics, which is explained by Oxford Dictionaries as “A medicine (such as penicillin or its derivatives) that inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms” can successfully treat the disease if it is outside of the digestive tract.

E. coli is a bacterium capable of being transmitted from one person to another. To ensure that the bacteria used in this experiment were not transmitted to other places, items, or organisms, several safety protocols were followed.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the digestive system of humans and animals. Although it is mainly harmless and helps promote a healthy digestive system, some strains can be pathogenic and cause illness such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory infections and even pneumonia. What makes E. coli pathogenic is the release of a toxin called Shiga. These are often referred to a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). This particular strain lives harmlessly in the guts of animals, particularly cattle. However, when in contact with a human, it results in illness. Pathogenic E. coli is usually caught when humans ingest invisible amounts of feces that can be found in food or water. (CDC, 2014) Antibiotics may be prescribed depending on the illness. Their ability to effectively work depends on it’s composition and the bacteria it is expected to work on.

Escherichia coli are rod shaped, gram negative bacteria often found in the gut of humans and other warm-blooded mammals (Jacques & Ngo, 2004). It is transmitted primarily through faecal contaminated food and water. Most strains of E. coli are not harmful to humans, however some strains are pathogenic and can cause symptoms including diarrhoea (Unknown, 2012).

Escherichia Coli, located in one of the main organs known as the large intestine, is a type of bacteria that helps digestion. (Trzepacz, Timmons, and Duobinis-Gray, 2016) For Escherichia Coli to remain stable and alive, it needs specific necessities. These needs are known as the following: Energy, vitamins, and similar compounds. Escherichia Coli is found everywhere!

Escherichia Coli is a rod-shaped bacterium that measures approximately 0.5 μm in width by 2 μm in length. It is a Gram-negative bacterium. Its cells stain gram negative because they have a thin cell wall with only one to two layers of peptidoglycan. They live in environments with higher temperatures rather than cooler temperatures. E. coli is said to be the “model organism”. Many microbiologists use these bacteria as a resource for understanding other prokaryotic life and are the most carefully studied life form on the planet. It was discovered by German-Austrian pediatrician Theodor Escherich in 1885.

E.coli outbreaks have steadily grown over the last few decades. An expansion in big farming has led to E. coli not only being found in meat, but vegetation as well, due to waste runoff. This has increased our need for adequate antibiotics that can fight bacteria, like E. coli. The best way to pinpoint which antibiotics work is by measuring their ability to create antimicrobial agents or zones of inhibition. When a paper disc that has been saturated in an antibiotic is inserted in a solution of E.coli and medium, the zone of inhibition will be noted as the clear ring that forms around the disk. The antibiotics efficacy is then determined by measuring each disk zone of inhibition, and comparing these measurements to the zone measurements of an untreated specimen. If an antibiotic is to be deemed sufficient for treating E. coli it should show a zone of inhibition that is at least double the size of the untreated specimen.

The orgimsms involved in Escherichia coli 0157 is an anaerobic bacterium which is shaped like a rod and is Gram-negative. Escherichia is a foodborne pathogen which causes a variety of disease in humans worldwide. Cattle are the reservoir to the diseases. Between 1% and 50% of healthy cattle carry or shed E.coli by means of their faeces. The cattle can also contract the infection after slaughter as conmtanation can occur during slaughter or while the beef is being proceed into products suitable for human consumption. In the United states the most common way of transmission of the disease is through consuming contaminated food and water. Although it is also frequently spread from person to person impartial in communities where there is a high concentration of children such as child care services and primary schools.

Esherichia coli also known as E. coli is a bacterium that lives in your gut. (1). it was founded by Theodore von Esherich in 1888. There are many people that can get the bacteria. Also there are thousands of strands of E.coli. Six E. coli O157 outbreaks were identified during 2007. Four of the outbreaks involved foodborne transmission. (Eshericha Coli). Six Minnesota cases and one Wisconsin case with the same or closely-related PFGE subtype of E. coli O157:H7, and an additional Minnesota case of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli that was not culture-confirmed, attended the Minnesota State Fair in August. All but one of the cases showed cattle or visited the cattle

Every year over 96,000 people contract E.Coli, 3,200 of those people are hospitalized for E.Coli, and over 31 people die each year from E.Coli (Food News). E.Coli (otherwise known as Escherichia coli O157:H7) is a disease that is spread in many ways, the most common way being raw and uncooked food in the restaurant being served to the customer. Another way E.Coli is spread is through contact human/animal feces. E.Coli can be prevented, here are some ways to do so; Cook all meats to at least 160 degrees fahrenheit, wash your hands with warm water and soap (especially after touching raw meats), wash off all kitchen supplies thoroughly, use only pasteurized dairy and juice products, use/drink treated water, If you travel to another country that may have unsafe water don’t use tap or ice water, avoid raw fruits and veggies (Web MD).

E. Coli is both a necessary bacteria in the human digestive tract and a very harmful toxin

What exactly is E.coli poisoning? What is the origin of e.coli? I always had these question in mind and decided to do this research on this topic because it has always been a subject during these past few years and it's becoming a topic over the news. As I was doing my research on the topic is then when I knew that the name E.Coli that we always see wasn’t the actual name of it. Its name is called Escherichia Coli and that there a few different types of e.coli which I never even knew of. I never thought of what could happen if someone gets infected with e.coli or how cautious we should be trying to stay away from it. Is it also something not just us to prevent it but also the way it gets into the foods we eat. It’s best to know and understand how it could become a big issue even if you are careful with how to handle it. How do actually keep e.coli away from us how should the government make sure the rates of food contamination decrease?

Escherichia coli (E.coli) has been a public health issue since the 1980s and is a major concern in food contamination in products like beef, dairy, and fresh produce. E.coli 0157:H7 itself is not invasive but it produces a Shiga toxin which attacks the host small blood vessels in the kidney. This makes the kidneys work harder which can destroy red blood cells and lead to hemolytic anemia (lowered number of red blood cells produced). The incubation period for E. coli ranges from three to eight days. The infection often causes severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps, but can also cause non-bloody diarrhea or no symptoms. E.coli may greatly affects children and the elderly.

E. coli O157:H7 is a gram negative, rod shaped bacteria that is being found in many foodborne and waterborne illnesses. It is also called Hemorrhagic colitis, the acute disease caused by E. coli (EHEC) because it causes abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea. It generally lives in the intestines of healthy humans and is generally harmless. It is also found in healthy cattle and can contaminate meat during slaughtering, as it produces a toxin that can cause illness. The E.coli O157:H7 is rare variety of E. coli that produces large quantities of one or more related, potent toxins that cause severe damage to the lining of the intestine. The Verotoxins that cause the disease are also called shiga toxins, because they were acquired from the Shigella strain. It is believed that the widespread use of antibiotics by American farmers has promoted the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenicity islands that has led to the creation of new pathogenic strains such as E. coli O157:H7.

AAPs have been proposed as valuable indicators for the manifestation and severity of pathological conditions in humans and animals (Otto et al., 2000).To date, diarrhoegenic E.coli have been divided into 6 pathotypes based on virulence properities; Enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) or Shigatoxin-producing (STEC), Enteropathogenic (EPEC), Enterotoxigenic (ETEC), Enteroinvasive (EIEC), Enteroaggregative (EAEE) and diffusely adherent E. coli (DAEE). EHEC strains are a subset of shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC). Infection with non- O157 STEC strains have been associated with diarrhoea and dysentery in young calves (Sandhu and Gyles, 2002) and severe outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in humans ranging from diarrhea and Hemorrhagic Colitis (HC) to the lifethreatening Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) (Lynn et al., 2005).