The oldest known sample of an Escherichia coliform (E. coli) bacteria has been extracted from a 16th-century Italian mummy by an international team of researchers.
Modern E. coli bacteria is often found in the digestive system of healthy humans and animals and while most forms of it are harmless, researchers revealed in their report that “some strains are responsible for serious, sometimes fatal food poisoning outbreaks and bloodstream infections.”
E. coli is also known to be very resistant to conventional treatment methods, including antibiotics.
