Ecoli O157

Symptoms: From eating contaminated food to the first symptoms can take from 12 hours to 2 weeks, but it is usually around 48 hours. Less than 100 organisms need to be ingested for this illness to occur. Symptoms can vary from mild diarrhoea to severe bloody diarrhoea and kidney problems, in extreme cases fatalities can occur. Generally it is vomiting and diarrhoea which are characteristic of this illness. This illness normally lasts 2 weeks but can last longer.

Where does it come from and how does it spread?

Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are commonly found in the human gut and are normally quite harmless. There are however different strains of E. coli and amongst these strains are those which produce toxins which in turn can cause illness in humans. One of these toxin producing strains is E. coli 0157 VTEC.

Foods which have been linked with this illness are beef, beef product, salads, wild mushrooms, raw milk and yoghurt. It is important to note that any food or drink can become contaminated if it comes into contact with infected food or with contaminated equipment or hands.
Farm animals can pass the illness to humans and person to person spread can also occur.