For decades, public health officials and clinicians primarily hunted for one notorious pathogen: E. coli O157 . Its unique biochemical characteristics made it relatively easy to identify in laboratories, and its association with severe, sometimes fatal, foodborne illness was well-established. This focus, however, created a blind spot. Lurking in the shadows were hundreds of other E. coli serotypes capable of producing the same dangerous Shiga toxins, a diverse family of pathogens now known as non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) . Thanks to a revolution in diagnostic technology, the true scale of this hidden threat is finally coming into focus, revealing a significant and growing public health challenge that extends far beyond the classic O157 strain.

The shift to advanced molecu

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