- coli is a type of bacteria that always lives in the intestines of the human body. Besides, it is also found in the gut of some animals. Nevertheless, most types of these bacteria are harmless and a time they are seen to keep the digestive tract healthy. However, some strains might cause diarrhea if an individual eats any food that is contaminated or drinking fouled water (Ekici & Dumen, 2019). Besides E. coli being associated with food poisoning, an individual can get pneumonia as well as urinary tract infections from a range of bacteria. Furthermore, some versions of E. coli bacteria make people sick by making a toxin referred to as Shiga. As a result, the toxin released damages the lining of the intestine. To mention, the strains of E. coli that manufacture the toxin are referred to as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).
The E. coli bacteria are facultative anaerobes and are nonsporulating (Ekici & Dumen, 2019: Erjavec, 2019). Being the prominent bacterium in the facultative anaerobic microbiota of the intestines, E. coli is spread widely in stool as well as the environment. More importantly, unique strains of these bacteria are commonly associated with various distinctive diarrheal illnesses. For instance, the illnesses include enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), as well as enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) (Makvana & Krilov, 2015: Sobur et al, 2019: Qiu et al, 2019). According to Qiu et al, (2019), pathogenic E. coli is a bacterium that results in enteritis, urinary tract urethritis as well as other diseases in warm-blooded animals. Therefore, the attack of E. coli to human bodies as well as other warm-blooded animals causes more harm than benefits.