All blood, no stool: enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection.
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.
Yoon
Jang W
JW
Division of Molecular and Life Science, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Korea.
Hovde
Carolyn J
CJ
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D054324:Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006463:Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D009876:Operon; D022603:Shiga Toxins / Q000032:analysis; D012762:Shigella dysenteriae; D014774:Virulence
D022603:Shiga Toxins