Tracking of pathogens via virulence factors: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in cattle and potential risks for human disease

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) belong to a group of emerging foodborne pathogens that are a significant public health threat throughout the world. Much is unknown about these organisms: their prevalence, their burden on public health and how they cause disease. The acquisition of virulence factors is responsible for transforming commensal E. coli into pathogens, as virulence factors allow for intimate adherence to and subsequent colonization of the gastrointestinal tract, evasion of the immune system and/or the ability to induce disease. Identifying virulence factors to serve as definitive markers of pathogenicity across EHEC seropathotypes, for molecular detection assays, is a focus of current research.