E. coli is necessary for the human body to function. However, serious illness can occur when humans come in contact with a rouge form of this bacterium.

The question is though, what makes this rouge form of E. coli? According to Dr. Benjamin Chapman, assistant professor in consumer science, this strain is due to the difference in the genetic makeup of the bacteria. The different genes in bad E. coli cause the production of Shiga toxins, which cause a victim to become ill.

The Shiga toxins are responsible for the symptoms. According to Chapman, the first symptom people get is bloody diarrhea.

“This occurs when E. coli is growing in the intestines,” Chapman said, “which shed to get rid of the toxin”.

Then the toxin is introduced to the blood system, which travels to the kidney, where blood clots can form, according to Chapman. These blood clots can stop the kidney from functioning, or can end up in eyes and cause blindness.

Along with kidney failure, bloody diarrhea and blindness, if someone comes in contact with E. coli, they may exhibit fevers, kidney infections or urinary tract infections, according to Dr. Sophia Kathariou , associate professor of food bioprocessing and nutrition sciences.

“Like a lot of food-born pathogens,” Chapman said, “[E. coli] spreads through the fecal-oral route”.

However, there are many different ways for the “fecal-oral route” to occur. According to Kathariou , E. coli can come in contact through food, water, contact with animals, or touching surfaces.

“Some farmers try to treat [animal feces] and use it as fertilizer,” Dr. Hosni Hassan, professor of microbiology, biochemistry, toxicology and food science, said. “If it’s treated well, you can kill the bacteria, but if it’s not you will have E. coli. If it gets on a plant, it will get in the plant, so it’s not a matter of washing produce to get rid of E. coli.”

According to Hassan, it only takes 10 E. coli cells to produce symptoms.

“Even touching an animal, you may get 10, 15 or 100 cells of E. coli, then they can grow,” Hassan said. “They also have the ability to pass through the stomach without being killed.” According to Hassan, the growth of bacteria is exponential; so 10 cells of E. coli will grow rapidly on a surface.

With the recent State Fair outbreak, all of these sources had to be considered. According to Chapman, there is a process to finding the source of the E. coli outbreak.

Once an outbreak of E. coli is recognized, the first step is doing an epidemiological study. This means that investigators from the State Health Department question everyone who is ill. Once they identify the commonality between everyone experiencing symptoms, they interview people who also experienced the commonality.

In the case of the State Fair, once investigators identified the fairground as the commonality, they interviewed everyone who became ill as well as unaffected fairgoers. The interview consisted of a questionnaire, containing over 20 pages.

From here, interviewers found the differences between where the sick people went and where the unaffected people went. In the case of the State Fair, this difference was the animal show.

After the general source of E. Coli is recognized, investigators then go and test for E. coli at the location, in this case the animal show. According to Kathariou , every form of E. coli has a fingerprint, which is used to confirm that the strain found on location has the same genetic makeup as the one that caused victims to become ill.

According to Hassan, the State Fair presents the problem of children touching animals, not washing their hands, then consuming food, effectively providing a direct, “fecal-oral route”.

Although only 27 people were affected by E. coli from the State Fair, according to Chapman, there were many more people that came in contact with the bacteria.

“We still don’t know why some people are infected while others are not”, Kathariou said.

With the previous State Fair E. coli outbreak, according to Hassan, the State Fair made some improvements, putting out disinfecting towels for the public to use. However, the risk will never be zero, according to Kathariou , at a place like the State Fair.