E. Coli Resource Center
Health ConditionsDigestive HealthE. Coli

E. Coli

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E. coli (Escherichia coli) is a type of bacteria that normally lives in the intestines of healthy people and animals. While most strains are harmless, some can cause severe diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness, and pneumonia. You might experience abdominal cramps, severe diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. Treatment depends on the strain and severity of infection, and may include supportive care like rehydration. Proper food handling and hygiene are essential for prevention.

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Common Questions & Answers

How does E. coli spread?

E. coli spreads through contaminated food, water, or person-to-person contact.

Severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting.

Supportive care, like rehydration, is common. Antibiotics are sometimes used.

Undercooked ground beef, raw milk, and fresh produce are susceptible to being contaminated with E. coli.

Cook food thoroughly, wash hands, and avoid unpasteurized products.

Meet Our Experts In E. Coli
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Everyday Health’s team of board-certified physicians and health professionals contribute to the creation and review of content, ensuring that the information is useful, up to date, and accurate.

Yuying Luo, MD

Medical Reviewer

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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Jane Yoon Scott, MD

Medical Reviewer

Jane Yoon Scott, MD, is an infectious disease physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Scott enjoys connecting with her patients, empowering them to understand and take ownership of their health, and encouraging them to ask questions so that they can make informed and thoughtful decisions.

She graduated with the highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, then received her MD from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her internal medicine residency training and chief residency at Temple University Hospital, as well as a fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory University. She is board-certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases.

When she is not seeing patients, Dr. Scott works with neighboring health departments to promote public health, especially to communities that have been historically underserved. She also teaches medical trainees and lectures medical students at the Emory University School of Medicine.

In her free time, Dr. Scott appreciates a good coffee shop, weekend hikes, playing guitar, strolling through cities, sampling restaurants, and traveling to new places.

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Natalia Johnsen, MD

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Natalia Johnsen, MD, practices internal medicine and lifestyle medicine. She works as an internist for the Vancouver Clinic in Vancouver, Washington.

Johnsen trained and worked as ob-gyn in Russia before coming to the United States in 2000. Subsequently, she interned in internal medicine at the University of Nevada and completed her residency at a Stanford-affiliated program in Santa Clara, California. After that she worked as a general internist for two years before to switching to full-time hospital work.

Johnsen has always been fascinated by the effects that lifestyle can have on physical and mental health, and she fell in love with the concept of lifestyle medicine as a specialty after seeing patients struggle with issues that could have been prevented had they known more about a healthy lifestyle. To make an impact on her patients through lifestyle interventions, she launched her own lifestyle medicine clinic, Vivalso Health and Longevity.

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Resources
  1. E. coli (Escherichia coli). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.