Escherichia coli are recognized indicators of faecal contamination. However, this perspective has changed with the ability of some strains of E. coli to cause human illness. The pathogenic E. coli strains can cause a variety of diseases, including diarrhoea, dysentery, and haemolytic uremic syndrome, bladder and kidney infections. Different strains are usually associated with different diseases; this versatility of E. coli strains is due to the different strains possessing unique virulence genes. |
