Focus - Escherichia Coli

E. coli is well known as a pathogen, it is often in the news causing outbreaks of  food poisoning.  It is a Gram negative, facultative anaerobic coliform, commonly found in the intestine of mammals and birds.  Most strains are harmless, but E. coli is also one of the most diverse species of bacteria, and those strains that produce shiga toxin are particularly lethal.  The important point regarding E. coli is that it is a coliform, or fecal contaminant, and clearly indicates that the drug product that was not made under GMP conditions.