Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a major foodborne bacterial pathogen that causes many zoonotic diseases such as mild diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and a life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome. STEC produces one or more Shiga toxins (Stxs) with or without other virulence factors including the locus of enterocyte and effacement pathogenicity island and the 60-MDa plasmid. Because cattle are the principal reservoirs of STEC, the consumption of undercooked meat and dairy products contaminated with bovine feces is the most common transmission route of STEC in human infections. To understand the epidemiology of STEC infection in South Korea, the prevalence of STEC among bovine feces, meat products, and human patients was reviewed in this study. We found that (i) the prevalence of STEC O157:H7 (hereafter referred to as O157 STEC) isolates was generally decreased, whereas non-O157 STEC isolates be increased among bovine feces and meat products from 2000 to 2012 and (ii) no severe human outbreaks occurred. Instead, 50 to 100 sporadic cases of STEC infection per year have been reported in asymptomatic human patients or patients with mild diarrhea. Key words: Shiga toxin-producing, Escherichia coli, STEC, prevalence, South Korea

Abstract
 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli
 General features of O157 and non-O157 STEC
 Prevalence of O157 and non-O157 STEC isolatesamong bovine feces in South Korea
 Prevalence of O157 and non-O157 STEC amongmeats and meat by-products in South Korea
 Human infections by STEC in South Korea
 REFERENCES

• June Bong Lee(College of Veterinary Medicine & Institute of Veterinary Science, Kangwon National University)
• Jang Won Yoon(College of Veterinary Medicine & Institute of Veterinary Science, Kangwon National University) Corresponding Author