Biologists Figure Out Why The E. Coli Outbreak In Germany In 2011 Was So Deadly

U.S. epidemiologists have determined that the E. coli outbreak that occurred in Germany in 2011 – the deadliest ever recorded, causing 54 deaths and 3,800 illnesses – was caused by a particular strain of the bacteria.  Although the researchers weren’t able to determine how the strain – E. coli O104:H4 – causes disease, they did find that the strain’s biofilm, a group of bacteria that collects on a cell, is the reason the strain was so deadly. When the bacteria forms a biofilm, it generates toxic genes, like the Shiga toxin that was the main reason for kidney damage and deaths in Germany.