SHIGA TOXIN PRODUCING Escherichia coli: AN UP TO DATE
Among the patotypes of E. coli that causes diarrhea in humans, the Shiga toxin producing E. coli – STEC – is the one that most concerns food microbiologists because of its importance to Public Health and to the Food Industry: the Public Health, due to the various outbreaks caused by the ingestion of contaminated food or water and high number of deaths, and to the Food Industry because of the economic losses caused by outbreaks and food recalls.
E. coli O157:H7 has received greater attention because of its virulence and also because it was considered the serotype most isolated in epidemiological studies until recently, especially in North America. However, other serogroups have become important due to the increase in the number of isolations around the world. These serogrups are O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145.
Since 2011, though, serotype O104:H4 has become as important as the previous serogroups because of its involvement in the German food borne outbreak. Some aspects of this outbreak will be discussed such as the characteristics of the strain and the importance of vegetables as vehicles in outbreaks.
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