First Documented: 1895 Illness Caused: Diarrhoea, Urinary Tract Infection, Meningitis Antibiotic Resistance: High Virulence: Worrying Most E.coli is completely harmless and survives happily in the human digestive system. However, some strains of E.coli can cause serious illness and most commonly lead to severe food poisoning as well as meningitis and infections. A high level of resistance to antibiotics has been found across several strains of E.coli and while it is rare to find these strains causing illness, it is another concerning example of a bacteria that has the potential to cause problems if our use of antibiotics goes unchecked.
