Feb-27-13 By IdeaConnection
E. coli (Escherichia coli) is a common bacterium that lives in the human gut. Most of the time, it’s a useful fellow, helping us to digest our food among other things. Most strains are harmless. But in some situations they can turn nasty and cause disease. On occasion they can be fatal.
One of the biggest outbreaks of E. coli in decades occurred in 2011. An unusual strain claimed 50 lives and hospitalized more than 4,000 others across Europe. Its source was unknown. To get some answers quickly, scientists turned to crowdsourcing.