Scientists have come closer to understanding how a clone of E. coli, described as the most important of its kind to cause human infections, has spread across the world in a very short time.
E. coli clone ST131 is one of the leading causes of urinary tract and blood stream infections and has crossed the globe at a rapid rate.
Worryingly, this clone is becoming more resistant to antibiotics.
The research team used genome sequencing to analyse strains of ST131 from six geographical locations across the world between 2000 and 2011. Their work shows that, despite such a large geographical spread, the ST131 clone of E. coli came from a single ancestor before 2000.
Read the full, original story: Researchers led Plymouth University study global spread of E. coli strain
