enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection is an intestinal infectious disease caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). ETEC is a group of diarrheagenic E. coli recently discovered in the stool of patients with cholera-like illness in humans and is one of the main pathogens of 'traveler's diarrhea' in developed countries. It is a common cause of 'adult cholera syndrome' and an important pathogen of diarrhea in children, with an incidence second only to rotavirus. In Bangladesh, diarrhea caused by ETEC accounts for 30% to 60% of all diarrhea cases, forming a regional epidemic. The 302 Hospital first discovered this disease in China in 1982.