What Superpower Do Harmful Escherichia Coli Strains Have?

On This Won't Hurt a Bit's Food Poisoning episode, the hosts say most E. coli is friendly. A new strain may cause only a little diarrhea while the strains sort themselves out. The strains that make people very sick are different. Staph's superpower was heat resistance. Theirs is breaking down the intestinal wall, entering the bloodstream, and making Shiga toxin, which can kill cells lining the intestine. A medium-rare burger can carry that flora from the cow into the grind. Besides bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever, the hosts say the toxin can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome in as many as 10 percent of cases, especially children under 10, and can damage the kidneys.