Pathogenic Escherichia coli network

Summary

The subject of the first official Pathogenic E. coli Network (PEN) conference was methods of detection and molecular characterisation of pathogenic E. coli. The aim was to focus on non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) and other pathogenic E. coli, though most of the information discussed was  relevant to STEC. Although many aspects of methodology were discussed, there still appears to  be no consensus on the best way for approaching the detection and isolation of non-O157 STEC from foods, environmental samples, animals and clinical specimens. However, two common approaches have been adopted by most researchers working in this area depending on the focus of the study.
Firstly there is testing for specific serotypes of STEC, this approach is used to target the most common and clinically significant STEC. This is particularly relevant for workers investigating outbreaks and sources of clinical infection where the serotype of STEC is known and for investigating the ecology and epidemiology of relevant STEC serotypes. The second approach targets the broad group of STEC and generally uses methods focussed on the detection of either Shiga toxins or the genes which encode them (stx).