Recent Advances in Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Research in Latin America

Pathogenic Escherichia coli are known to be a common cause of diarrheal disease and a frequently occurring bacterial infection in children and adults in Latin America. Despite the effort to combat diarrheal infections, the south of the American continent remains a hot spot for infections and sequelae associated with the acquisition of one category of pathogenic E. coli, the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). This review will focus on an overview of the prevalence of different STEC serotypes in human, animals and food products, focusing on recent reports from Latin America outlining the recent research progress achieved in this region to combat disease and endemicity in affected countries and to improve understanding on emerging serotypes and their virulence factors. Furthermore, this review will highlight the progress done in vaccine development and treatment and will also discuss the effort of the Latin American investigators to respond to the thread of STEC infections by establishing a multidisciplinary network of experts that are addressing STEC-associated animal, human and environmental health issues, while trying to reduce human disease. Regardless of the significant scientific contributions to understand and combat STEC infections worldwide, many significant challenges still exist and this review has focus in the Latin American efforts as an example of what can be accomplished when multiple groups have a common goal.