E. Coli ( Coli )

2. Why do you think Mrs. Garner's students did not become ill, while Ms. Hines' kids did?

Escherichia coli, or better known as E. Coli, is one of the most commonly studied single-cell organisms because it is easier to manipulate and it is abundant. Some E. Coli strains can be pathogenic, but most are harmless. They can help benefit digestive health by filling niches in place of more harmful microorganisms. Because it is a diverse group of related microorganisms, it can be difficult to find the boundaries defining the species. Some strains are natural while others are genetically created in labs, which can be observed in aspects of an organism (Schussler).

I haven’t heard of an E. Coli outbreak in years, so I was wondering what would be the cause of this one and where was the outbreak located. Years ago when an E. Coli outbreak occurred, a couple lost their son, who was only about 5 years old, due to contaminated meat. I never forgot that tragic event and I wanted to make sure I and my family and friends, were not affected by any E. Coli bacteria in the future. Others articles like “Kim Jong Un Pledges To Shut Down Main Nuclear Test Site In May, South Korea says” or “Burning Man Co-Founder Larry Harvey Dies At 70” are both important articles, from the title, but was not my concern at the time. Once I saw this article portraying to E. Coli, I wanted to know more, than the issue of South Korea or the death of Larry Harvey, which is not healthcare

In ground beef you can get E. coli because they slaughter the cow and then the E. coli from there intestine gets on the ground meat and they mix the meat and then that gives it a higher risk of spreading it.(Staff Mayo Clinic) In unpasteurized milk it comes from the udder of the cow and then it gets into the milk. (Staff Mayo Clinic) In fresh food it comes from the farms that can contaminate the farm. The most vulnerable to this is lettuce and spinach. (Staff Mayo Clinic) In contaminated water there can be E. coli because it untreated and there is feces in it.(Staff Mayo Clinic) Also personal contact which means that adults can give it to their kids because they do not wash their hands after using the bathroom.(Staff Mayo Clinic) Also it passed in restaurants because cooks or people working back their do not wash their hands. E. coli causes the hemolytic-urine syndrome, which is a blood and kidney disease in children. It can also cause Uninary tract infections and bladder infections or it can lead to sepsis. There is another cause Thrombotic thrombocytopenic Purpura. This is a rare blood disease. It causes clots to form in small blood vessels throughout the body. This usually causes through the infectious parts of E. coli.

Escherichia coli are rod shaped, gram negative bacteria often found in the gut of humans and other warm-blooded mammals (Jacques & Ngo, 2004). It is transmitted primarily through faecal contaminated food and water. Most strains of E. coli are not harmful to humans, however some strains are pathogenic and can cause symptoms including diarrhoea (Unknown, 2012).

coli O157 became a reportable disease. But Outbreak surveillance has several limitations. Many outbreaks go unrecognized, are classified as outbreaks of unknown etiology, and are not reported to local public health officials or CDC. Smaller outbreaks and outbreaks with unknown transmission routes and vehicles are less likely to be reported. Additionally, outbreak reporting may not be uniform across time periods or states. Therefore, trends should be interpreted carefully, given the changing factors that may impact outbreak detection and reporting. While a summary of outbreaks cannot draw firm conclusions on disease trends, illustration of transmission routes, food vehicles, outbreak size, and clinical outcomes over time empowers public health officials, regulatory agencies, and health educators to target appropriate interventions and reevaluate current prevention

In Washington and Oregon, Chipotle restaurants have been shut down after health specialties investigated incidences related to an E. coli outbreak. Between the dates of October fourteen and the twenty-third, people who ate at Chipotle in the states of Washington and Oregon began to show symptoms in E. coli. No one has died yet due to the outbreak, but eight people have been hospitalized. Found in the intestines of animals and people, E. coli causes food poisoning and in severe cases, even death. It is most likely that the customers at Chipotle became infected with E. coli by eating the food prepared by employees who did not wash their hands before making the food. The bacteria can also be spread by improper preparation of food, such as food

E. Coli is both a necessary bacteria in the human digestive tract and a very harmful toxin

Escherichia Coli, located in one of the main organs known as the large intestine, is a type of bacteria that helps digestion. (Trzepacz, Timmons, and Duobinis-Gray, 2016) For Escherichia Coli to remain stable and alive, it needs specific necessities. These needs are known as the following: Energy, vitamins, and similar compounds. Escherichia Coli is found everywhere!

As Schlosser proves with his alluring facts, E. Coli is one of the most popular infections to be recognized throughout the nation. With his in-depth research, he provides the stories of the average everyday American who has been infected or passed away with such a horrid disease. Furthermore, Ingrid Abboud, from nittygriddy.com states, “Studies revealed 50% of fountain drink dispensers were found to be contaminated with fecal bacteria”.

E. coli is a bacterium capable of being transmitted from one person to another. To ensure that the bacteria used in this experiment were not transmitted to other places, items, or organisms, several safety protocols were followed.

O157:H7 strain of E. coli that sickened 40 people in eight states (Glausiusz 1). Additionally,

For the seven interviews that the team conducted, three of the cases had eaten hamburger or ground beef, no cases had drunk raw milk, only one case had traveled outside Michigan, no restaurant or social event was identified in common, all of the cases had consumed lettuce, and six had eaten alfalfa sprouts. Appendix A shows the line listing of people who became ill with E.coli or E.coli symptoms from June 15 to July 15. Based on those findings no obvious linkages between patients were found. Appendix B shows the epidemic curve for this outbreak. The epidemic curve showed that the onset of illness among cases occurred from June to July with largest number occurring on June 22nd. Based on the appendix D, DNA fingerprinting

When I read this case study, I had initially thought maybe it’s cholera due to the watery diarrhea. After searching up cholera, I found out it was not cholera and some other type of bacterial infection. Then I looked up types of food infections and found nothing so I had to narrow down the search and searched for “bacterial-borne food illnesses.” This led me to most bacterias that caused illnesses from either contaminated food or food that were not properly prepared. On this list I found that Escherichia coli was the suspect, except that the general E.coli bacteria is usually a sorbitol-fermenter and the only exception is one of the strains called “E.coli 0157:H7.” I confirmed this by searching up the sorbitol fermentation and found the sorbitol-MacConkey

In this lab experiment, students had to create a growth curve for E. coli. The E. coli growth curve would illustrate the progression of the population of E. coli a set time period. In this case, the growth curve depicted the population of E. coli over a 12-hour period. The growth curve for E. coli was created from the absorbance levels, the optical density(OD), recorded from the spectrophotometer.