If all the microorganisms are wiped out in the gut, including the good bacteria, the immune system of the person would suffer. The reason for this is that the symbiosis between humans and good bacteria helps in meeting the person’s nutritional needs and boosting the immune system.

First, once the organism obtains the food, it is torn down into small pieces by the mouth. It passes through the digestive tract, where it is further broken down chemically by the digestive enzymes that are found in the stomach.

Then, the chemical process of digestion continues when the food particles pass down through the intestines, which absorb the nutrients later on. On the other hand, the solid food materials that are not digested by the body would be eliminated from the body as waste products through an opening called the anus.

Leaf eaters or herbivores have mouthparts that are able to rasp or grind the plants into a pulp. In this way, the plant cell is torn and its nutrients are released. On the other hand, meat eaters or carnivores have sharp teeth that are able to slice and dice the meat into small chunks.

The digestive system is compared to an assembly/disassembly line because the process of breaking down the food takes one step at a time. This is the reason why the digestive system has specialized structures that perform different tasks.

For example, the mouth mechanically breaks down the food using the teeth and it also releases enzymes that chemically digest the food. Later on, the food passes through the stomach where it is further broken down chemically. However, the digestion does not stop there because as it continues to go to the intestines, some food particles and nutrients are still being extracted before they are absorbed by the body.

Escherichia coli usually lives in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals. Most strains of this bacteria are considered harmless and they are already existing as a part of the normal microbiome of the host. However, some strains cause food poisoning and other diseases in their hosts.

We must consider that a parasite harms the health of the hosts by taking advantage of the nutrients that are found in the host’s tissues, blood, and other body fluids. In this case, we can say that the results of the laboratory test give insufficient data whether the animal is really suffering from a parasitic infection or the E. coli strain that is found in the test is just harmless. Further tests must be made in order to identify if the organism is suffering from a parasitic infection.