Recall English
Ground beef and greens — public outbreak grammar.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Familiarity82
Medical weight75
Benefit55
Risk70
Research85
Live debate38
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Each bar is a 0-100 atlas score for this topic, not a timeline.
Both scores stay visible. Drag the slider to emphasize Benefit or Risk.
Benefit
Risk
Familiarity
82%
Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Escherich describes coli
- Castellani and Chalmers
- K-12 isolated
- Genome era begins
- O157 outbreaks
- Jack in the Box
- E. coli K-12 genome
- O104:H4 Europe
Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Encounter route pick
Pick one encounter or route already written on this topic and reopen it next time.
Classroom literacy — not a lab result, diagnosis or outbreak alert.
Route on this page
One encounter scale
Scale literacy. Not a lab result or a diagnosis.
Quick facts
Theodor Escherich described Bacterium coli commune from infant stools in 1885. The genus later took his name.Escherich 1885
Most strains live harmlessly in the large bowel and can make vitamin K2 (menaquinone) among other roles.Mostly a gut resident
Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157:H7 was tied to outbreaks in 1982 and to the 1993 Jack in the Box hamburger cluster.STEC O157
E. coli is used as a fecal-contamination indicator in drinking and bathing water because it signals recent gut pollution.Water indicator
Lab strain K-12, isolated in 1922 and domesticated over decades, underpins much molecular biology — history, not a kitchen kit.K-12 workhorse
A European sprout-linked outbreak of an unusual EHEC/EAEC hybrid showed how food networks move rare pathotypes.2011 O104:H4
Escherichia coli is first a gut neighbor. A few pathotypes — STEC among them — turn a kitchen or farm failure into a public-health headline.
Escherich named the organism from infant stools in 1885. A century later it became both a lab workhorse and a foodborne villain in different files.
This page does not teach how to culture or engineer strains. It maps ordinary residence versus outbreak pathotypes.
82FamiliarityEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
75Medical weightEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
55BenefitEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
70RiskEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
Escherichia coli — concrete atlas depth on Tool-Lifes.
Escherichia coli — concrete atlas depth on Tool-Lifes.
One name, many jobs
English speakers meet E. coli as a school lab mascot, a STEC recall, and a gut resident. Those are not the same story.
Lab English
K-12 is a teaching strain. It is not a menu item.
Public-health desks
Most people’s E. coli never makes the news.
The profile
- Familiarity82
- Medical weight75
- Benefit55
- Risk70
- Research85
- Live debate38
Risk
Usually a gut resident; a minority of STEC pathotypes drive foodborne headlines.
Seven ways into this topic
Related on the scale
Slide across the log scale — teaching sizes, not lab measurements.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I start with Escherichia coli?
Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.
Is this page advice for Escherichia coli?
Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.
What does the local lens add?
It names everyday desks for Encounters before English norms look universal.
Are the scores a ranking of Escherichia coli?
No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.
How do I compare Escherichia coli to neighbours?
Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.
Which chapter is densest?
How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.
Can I cite these scores externally?
Treat them as atlas orientation, not certificates or forecasts.
What should I check before acting?
Primary desks for Encounters: public-health desks and lab teaching frames.
Sources & research
More in Encounters
Influenza
A winter respiratory virus of drift and rare shift — surveillance and vaccines, not a cartoon villain.
Familiarity 93Tuberculosis
An airborne bacillus of latency and long care — programmes and air, not a drug recipe.
Familiarity 70Staphylococcus aureus
A common skin neighbor and a resistance story called MRSA — not scare porn.
Familiarity 78Norovirus
A very-low-dose gut virus of schools and ships — soap and bleach surfaces, not alcohol-gel faith.
Familiarity 80Helicobacter pylori
A gastric spiral that rewrote the ulcer textbook — Nobel 2005, Korea's high historic prevalence, no recipes.
Familiarity 68