Editing Escherichia coli (section)

==History==
In 1885, the German-Austrian pediatrician [[Theodor Escherich]] discovered this organism in the feces of healthy individuals. He called it ''Bacterium coli commune'' because it is found in the colon. Early classifications of [[prokaryote]]s placed these in a handful of genera based on their shape and motility (at that time [[Ernst Haeckel]]'s classification of bacteria in the kingdom [[Monera]] was in place).<ref name="Manson's tropical diseases"/><ref>{{cite book |vauthors = Haeckel E |year = 1867 |title = Generelle Morphologie der Organismen |publisher = Reimer, Berlin |isbn = 978-1-144-00186-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Escherich T |year = 1885 |title = Die Darmbakterien des Neugeborenen und Säuglinge |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o1MXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Die%20darmbakterien%20des%20neugeborenen%20und%20säuglings%22&pg=PA135 |journal = Fortschr. Med. |volume = 3 |pages = 515–22 }}</ref>

''Bacterium coli'' was the type species of the now invalid genus [[Bacterium (genus)|''Bacterium'']] when it was revealed that the former type species ("''Bacterium triloculare''") was missing.<ref name=status>{{cite journal | vauthors = Breed RS, Conn HJ | title = The Status of the Generic Term Bacterium Ehrenberg 1828 | journal = Journal of Bacteriology | volume = 31 | issue = 5 | pages = 517–18 | date = May 1936 | pmid = 16559906 | pmc = 543738 | doi =  10.1128/JB.31.5.517-518.1936}}</ref> Following a revision of ''Bacterium'', it was reclassified as ''Bacillus coli'' by Migula in 1895<ref>{{ cite book | author = Migula W | chapter= Bacteriaceae (Stabchenbacterien) |veditors=Engerl A, Prantl K | title =  Die Naturlichen Pfanzenfamilien, W. Engelmann, Leipzig, Teil I, Abteilung Ia | year = 1895 | pages = 20–30 }}</ref> and later reclassified in the newly created genus ''[[Escherichia]]'', [[List of bacterial genera named after personal names|named after]] its original discoverer, by [[Aldo Castellani]] and [[Albert John Chalmers]].<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Castellani A, Chalmers AJ | title = Manual of Tropical Medicine |url=https://archive.org/details/manualoftropical00cast | edition = 3rd | publisher = Williams Wood and Co. | location = New York | year = 1919 }}</ref>

In 1996, an outbreak of ''E. coli'' food poisoning occurred in Wishaw, Scotland, killing 21 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/154107.stm |work = BBC News |title = Sheriff criticises ''E. Coli'' butcher|date=19 August 1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The butcher who lied |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12363329.the-butcher-who-lied/ |access-date=2021-10-15|website=HeraldScotland |date=20 August 1998 }}</ref> This death toll was exceeded in 2011, when the [[2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak|2011 Germany ''E. coli'' O104:H4 outbreak]], linked to organic [[Fenugreek|fenugreek sprouts]], killed 53 people.

In 2024, an outbreak of ''E. coli'' food poisoning occurred across the U.S. was linked to [[Agriculture in the United States|U.S.-grown organic]] [[carrot|carrots]] causing one fatality and dozens of illnesses.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-organic-carrots-leaves-1-dead-and-dozens-sickened-across-the-u-s-1.7113486|title=E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots leaves 1 dead and dozens sickened across the U.S.|publisher=[[CTV News]]/[[CNN]]|last=Mascarenhas|first=Lauren|date=November 17, 2024|access-date=November 17, 2024}}</ref>