Materials and Methods: Total of 184 samples comprising 96 raw fish and 88 ready- to-eat (RTE) fish products were
collected from Ludhiana and other parts of Punjab and were subjected to suitable microbiological methods for E. coli
isolation. E. coli isolates were subjected for haemolytic activity and indicators of plausible cytotoxicity (lecithinase, protease
and gelatinase production), congo red dye biding assay. To assess virulence potential isolates were molecularly screened for
stx 1 and 2 genes.