We would like to receive abstracts for offered oral or poster presentations.  You will need to provide:

• A Title
• Abstract of up to 500 words, but may be substantially less - we suggest splitting your abstract into sections, e.g.
• Background
• Rationale for the work
• Main findings or outcomes
• Conclusions
• Authors and affiliations
• Theme
• Submission type

We are seeking submissions in the following themes:

STEC cases are changing with higher incidence of non-O157 serogroups reported in many countries, as well as an increased diversity in the range of sources. This session will showcase the current knowledge and research in public health epidemiology, providing updates for STEC as an evolving pathogen. 

This session will explore the current knowledge of evolution of STEC using genomics approaches. It will encompass not just the chromosomal content, but horizontally acquired elements including the stx-encoding bacteriophage and plasmids. It will also explore how cutting-edge bioinformatics tools are being used to better understand STEC.   

Food and food-production systems continue to be a principal route of transmission of STEC. This session will consider how different food vehicles have changed over recent time, and the requirements for risk management. It also provides the opportunity to show how stakeholders along the food-chain can link to aid in food safety and control.  

This session will examine the options for treatment of STEC infections, covering different clinical trials. It will consider how changes in STEC serogroup cases have impacted on clinical disease presentation and patient management.   

STEC is transmitted through a variety of routes from the primary reservoir of (ruminant) animals, with water as a key link for environmental and crop transmission. This session will consider the diversity of transmission pathways and implications from the many serogroups, not all of which have pathogenic potential in human hosts.   

How disease from STEC manifest is dependent on multiple factors, from the pathogen and the host. The appearance of diverse genotypes with alternative virulence factors complicates prediction of disease outcome. This session will examine the key factors that lead to clinical disease and the potential for treatment options. 

When STEC outbreaks or incidents occur, multiple organisations need to act in a coordinated manner to help to disseminate the public health messages and control the situation. This session will highlight the challenges and opportunities including in source identification, knowledge sharing and risk management. 

The molecular mechanisms that underpin STEC colonisation of hosts and its ability to cause disease are complicated by diverse genotypes. In addition, host factors play a key role in disease outcome. This session will showcase the most recent work on host-microbe interactions for STEC and the potential for interventions and control. 

Microbes rarely, if ever, exist in isolation, always interacting with their neighbouring microbiota as well as the host or habitat environment. Furthermore, interactions occur at multiple scales, from molecular to landscape. Yet, many of these and their role in the outcome for ecological fitness of STEC is unknown. This session will examine our current knowledge and lay out key questions that need to be addressed to understand STEC in an ecological context.  

Finding and detecting STEC pathogens is vital for control and for outbreak investigations. Yet, it can be complicated by the sample types and the testing requirements. The role of various methods, whether microbiological, molecular, genetic or computational, or whether existing or in development will be discussed for different detection scenarios.   

STEC is an archetypal One Health pathogen, with the ability to survive, persist and even thrive in an array of hosts and habitats. Although the primary reservoir of key STEC serogroups is known, its management is still challenging, compounded by the appearance of diverse serogroups. This session will showcase the underpinning scientific evidence that aids in risk management strategies for STEC as a One Health pathogen.