• Question: What is E.coli? Is it something to be worried about?

    Asked by jayneforeman to Cat, Daz, Holly, Johnson, Pamela on 17 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by catherines.
    • Photo: Holly Shelton

      Holly Shelton answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      E.coli is a bacteria. There are many different types of E.coli some are harmless and live in your intestines without causing you any problem what so ever in fact they maybe benifical. However some E.coli strains can cause you to be ill with food poisioning like symptoms. Recently in Germany they found a new strain of E.coli and this strain was very harmful it has killed 33 people and made lots of people ill. They think this is because it can get into you neurons and travel around your body really easily. It is not something to woory about in this country but we should always wash our hands before eating and wash any raw veg we eat to keep ourselves safe.

      Thanks for the question

      Holly

    • Photo: Darren Braddick

      Darren Braddick answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi jayneforeman and catherines,

      As Holly said, it’s a bacteria which has many many interactions with human beings. Did you know that by weight, a human body has well over one kilogram of bacterial cells living on it? Well E. coli is generally not too bad. In fact, many microbiology experiments use E. coli because we can play with its gene and DNA very easily, and program it to make proteins that we want.

      These strains are harmless, and have been changed by scientists to not be able to hurt humans. However, some types of E. coli are very dangerous.

      You may be familiar with the recent outbreak in the news? That E. coli can infect the digestive system of humans and it contains a very toxic compound which damages the internal organs of people very badly. It’s a horrible type of E. coli! Some E. coli can infect humans but generally may not kill them – unless they are particularly vulnerable (maybe very old, or very young, for example).

      You should not be worried, as long as everything you eat is clean and well prepared! Meat should always been kept separate from other foods, and cooked well. Especially now, even fruit and vegetable should be washed well!

      I hope this helps! I hope you two never get poisoned by E. coli too. So far, I haven’t been in my life, but I know its quite awful, even if it may not be deadly!

      Daz

    • Photo: Cat O'Connor

      Cat O'Connor answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi Jayneforeman and Catherines (I like your name :D) ,

      Holly and Daz have both given you great answers and I don’t think I can add much more.

      But of course I’m going to tell you something about E.coli and animals right?!? 😛

      Animals can get sick with E. coli too, in fact cows get blamed for a lot of infection!

      But the great thing about E. coli is that this bug has taught us SO much about all different sorts of bacteria because we use mostly harmless types in labs to teach us has bugs do certain things!

      Another great thing about E. coli is that it is not hard to kill. So even if you are on a farm, you can reduce your risk of getting sick by a load if you wash your hands properly and wear protective clothing.

      Hope we’ve answered your question!

      Cat

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