Written By: N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe | Published : November 7, 2025 9:36 PM IST
E.coli is a bacterium that primarily causes gastrointestinal issues, while swine flu is an influenza virus that can cause respiratory illness. Experts say that viruses are generally more infectious than bacteria as they are smaller in size and spread easily. Interestingly, a new study presented in the journal Nature Communications for the first time revealed that E.coli can spread between people and the speed at which one strain moves is compared to swine flu.
A peer study analyzed genome data from the UK and Norway to estimate the basic reproduction number (R0) of three E.coli strains. An innovative observation that monitors and controls antibiotic-resistant bacteria in both communities and hospitals.
Fanni Ojala, M.Sc., co-first author at Aalto University in Finland, explained, "By having a large amount of systematically collected data, it was possible to build a simulation model to predict R0 for E. coli. To our knowledge, this was not just a first for E. coli, but a first for any bacteria that live in our gut microbiome. Now that we have this model, it could be possible to apply it to other bacterial strains in the future, allowing us to understand, track, and hopefully prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections."
According to the researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo, the University of Helsinki, Aalto University in Finland and their collaborators, the ST131-A strain of E.coli spreads almost as quickly as the swine flu (H1N1).
Whereas, the other two strains called ST131-C1 and ST131-C2 are resistant to multiple antibiotic classes but they spread much more slowly among healthy individuals.
Dr. Trevor Lawley, Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and co-lead of the UK Baby Biome Study, who was not involved in this research, told the media, "E. coli is one of the first bacteria that can be found in a baby's gut, and in order to understand how our bacteria shape our health, we need to know where we start -- which is why the UK Baby Biome study is so important. It is great to see that our UK Baby Biome study data are being used by others to uncover new insights and methods that will hopefully benefit us all."
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