Diagnostic tools for intestinal pathogenic E. coli. Diagnostic tools for intestinal pathogenic E. coli. E. coli causes a variety of diarrheal diseases in humans owing to specific colonization and virulence factors associated with each pathotype. As no single method can be used to detect and diagnose all pathogenic E. coli strains, a number of biochemical tests, typing methods, and molecular approaches have been developed to isolate E. coli from other enteric bacteria as well as to differentiate between particular pathotypes. Prospective methods such as whole-genome sequencing or high-throughput sequencing are becoming fast and affordable, providing much information about the pathogen that may be useful to clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health workers. Matthew A. Croxen et al. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2013; doi:10.1128/CMR.00022-13