E. Coli and sickness

[Tim Ikeda]

From: rpeter at nmsu.edu (Peter Herman x5495)
>E. coli is indeed an organism which is part of the normal bacterial
>flora of the human gut, though in very low numbers compared to other
                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>bacteria.  The outbreak that is in the news is due to ingestion of a
 ^^^^^^^^
>strain that is found in cattle gut and produces a toxin like the one

From: BAKERK at FRIR.AFRC.AC.UK (Ken Baker)
>>Sorry, not true. E.coli is far and away the most common bacteria in the
>>human gut.
>>Cheers,
>>Ken.


Actually, Peter Herman was correct.  E. coli accounts for something in
the range of only 1% of the bacteria in the human gut (I'm not sure,
but I think bacteroides could be the most common). It's popular in 
labs at least in part because it's so easy to culture.

- Tim Ikeda