Escherichia coli (E. coli), a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacterium predominates among the bacteria in the intestine of many animal species. E. coli infections in livestock may be enteric or extraintestinal. The most common clinical manifestation of the enteric infections is diarrhoea. Extraintestinal infections include septicaemia, oedema disease, mastitis, uterine infection, and abortion.Certain E. coli are food and waterborne zoonotic pathogens that cause diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis, and haemolytic uremic syndrome in humans but little or no disease in their animal reservoirs. E. coli infections are illustrative of the One Health concept as they embody the complex ecology of agricultural animals, wildlife, and the environment in zoonotic transmission from animals to humans.In the webinar we focus on some of the significant aspects of the microbiology, epidemiology, and host-pathogen interactions of E. coli in animals from a One Health perspective addressing animal and environmental reservoirs, and proposing interventions targeted at pathways of transmission to optimise effective prevention and control measures.
