E. coli Reference Center (formerly Gastroenteric Disease Center) is a part of Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.

It is the largest repository for E. coli strains in America. It holds more than 70,000 strains collected over the last 40 years from animals, humans, birds and environment. Characteristics of each strain are well documented in our database and can be retrieved easily. The collection can be utilized for epidemiological studies, antimicrobial resistance over the years, relatedness between strains and for molecular tracking.

Serotyping:  We perform O and H typing for classifying E. coli for pathogenicity

Virulence testing:  Determine the presence of 25 virulence genes in E. coli to determine what type of pathogenic strains they are.

Surveillance and Monitoring:  We have been involved in monitoring E. coli in petting zoo animals, in water, in fruits and vegetables, in meat. 

Molecular Tracking and Relatedness:  We can track the source and find relatedness between strains by genetic methods

Other services:  Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, Sequencing of virulence genes