J Vet Sci.  2008 Sep;9(3):219-231. 10.4142/jvs.2008.9.3.219.

All blood, No stool: enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection

• Yoon JW
• Hovde CJ

• KMID: 1718574
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2008.9.3.219

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 is a pathotype of diarrheagenic E. coli that produces one or more Shiga toxins, forms a characteristic histopathology described as attaching and effacing lesions, and possesses the large virulence plasmid pO157. The bacterium is recognized worldwide, especially in developed countries, as an emerging food-borne bacterial pathogen, which causes disease in humans and in some animals. Healthy cattle are the principal and natural reservoir of E. coli O157:H7, and most disease outbreaks are, therefore, due to consumption of fecally contaminated bovine foods or dairy products. In this review, we provide a general overview of E. coli O157:H7 infection, especially focusing on the bacterial characteristics rather than on the host responses during infection.

Keyword

enterohemorrhagic; Escherichia coli; O157:H7

MeSH Terms

Animals
Cattle
Cattle Diseases/blood/epidemiology
Developing Countries
*Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli Infections/blood/*epidemiology/veterinary
*Escherichia coli O157/genetics/pathogenicity
Feces/microbiology
Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome/blood/epidemiology/veterinary
Operon
Shiga Toxins/analysis
Shigella dysenteriae
Virulence