Contribution of the highly conserved EaeH surface protein to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli pathogenesis.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains are among the most common causes of diarrheal illness worldwide. These pathogens disproportionately afflict children in developing countries, where they cause substantial morbidity and are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Although these organisms are important targets for enteric vaccines, most development efforts to date have centered on a subset of plasmid-encoded fimbrial adhesins known as colonization factors and heat-labile toxin (LT).