December 20, 2007

Poultry workers, big carriers of E.coli

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University revealed that poultry workers are 32 times more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria than non-poultry workers.

The university's Bloomberg School of Public Health said they discovered E. coli bacteria in the US poultry industry are resistant to the commonly used antibiotic gentamicin.

While drug resistant bacteria such as E. coli are common in the industrial broiler chicken environment, the researchers said their study is the first US research to show exposure occurring at a high level among industrial poultry workers.

According to the study's lead author Lance Price, the use of antimicrobials has been present in the United States for over fifty years and there are estimates indicating well over half of the antimicrobial drugs produced in the US are used in food animal production.