08/14/2018 / By Zoey Sky
In the U.S., most food poisoning cases are caused by E. coli outbreaks. Still, it’s important to know that while some strains of E. coli are indeed harmful to humans, not all types are pathogenic. You even have different strains of E. coli in your intestines, such as a strain of the bacteria that can produce the vitamin K that it also needs to survive. This important antioxidant also offers various health benefits.
Scientists usually characterize E. coli by the sugar coat displayed on their cell surface. For example, lipopolysaccharide, a molecule, functions as an anchor that “displays a collection of sugars to their environment.”
Bacteria need these sugars so the former can attach themselves to surfaces and show their identity to the immune system. Human cells also use sugars to reveal your blood type via sugars displayed on the blood cells.
The sugars that E. coli display can change, depending on the strain of the bacteria. There are sugar coats connected to strains that have a harmonious relationship with your stomach, like E. coli HS, UTI89, and CFT073. These strains are particularly helpful to your health.
Meanwhile, other strains may cause illness, like E. coli O104:H4 (or enterohemorrhagic E. coli [EHEC]), which caused a major outbreak in Europe back in 2011. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that this latest outbreak was caused by E. coli O157:H7, a strain that’s also the cause of about one foodborne outbreak in the U.S. yearly since 2006. (Related: 48 million people in the U.S. get food poisoning each year; new report reveals the most common germs making us sick.)
The letters and numbers that name a strain act as a code that identifies the sugars present in a strain of bacteria. While the sugars bacteria display doesn’t directly cause illnesses, they’re very easy to detect. Healthcare experts and scientists use these displays to determine if a present strain can eventually generate toxins that can spread diseases.
Bacteria require virulence factors or molecules that help ensure their survival while also weakening the immune system. For instance, EHEC and O157, which are both strains of E. coli, can produce a virulence factor called a Shiga toxin. Shiga toxins were first discovered in Shigella dysenteriae, the bacterium that causes dysentery.
Further research confirmed that the EHEC and O157 strains of E. coli now had the gene for Shiga toxins from the dysentery bacterium. This was made possible via a process called horizontal gene transfer.
Take note that it’s not the bacteria themselves that cause illnesses and different symptoms but virulence factors. When you consume contaminated food, the bacteria in your body reach a critical mass. Once this happens, the bacteria produce these toxins while they search for a new host. The toxins enter the cells of the intestines, and this results in various symptoms such as (bloody) diarrhea, low-grade fever, stomach cramps, and vomiting.
Here are the details of the latest multistate E. coli outbreak in the U.S., per the CDC:
Learn more about E. coli and foodborne diseases at Prevention.news.
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Tagged Under: bacteria, bacterial contamination, digestion, digestive health, Diseases, E. coli, Escherichia coli, food poisoning, food safety, food safety tips, foodborne illnesses, gut health, Shiga toxins, Shigella dysenteriae