March 1, 2021

Study finds meat production to be potential source of bacterium causing urinary tract infections

The meat production chain is likely a major source of Staphylococcus saprophyticus that causes human urinary tract infections, according to  epidemiologic and genomic evidence found by researchers at a Portuguese institute.

The study titled "Foodborne Origin and Local and Global Spread of S. saprophyticus Causing Human Urinary Tract Infections" provides insight into the origin, transmission and population structure of pathogenic S. saprophyticus and identifies possible new virulence factors.

S. saprophyticus is a Gram-positive bacterium that is a common cause of urinary tract infections, especially in young females. It is also found in pigs and cows and may be a source of human gut colonisation and human S. saprophyticus infection through transferred contamination of meat by the meat-processing chain.  S. saprophyticus UTIs have a greater successful treatment rate than Escherichia coli UTIs, but they also have a higher recurrent infection frequency. Rare complications of S. saprophyticus UTI include acute pyelonephritis, nephrolithiasis and endocarditis.

The researchers, led by Opeyemi U. Lawal a postdoctoral researcher at the Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB-NOVA), Oeiras, Portugal, conducted a phylogenomic analysis of 321 S. saprophyticus isolates collected from human UTIs worldwide during 1997-2017 and 232 isolates from human UTIs and the pig-processing chain in a confined region during 2016-2017.

The study used phenotypic, genomic and pangenome-wide association study (pan-GWAS) approaches to characterize S. saprophyticus both globally and locally.

In addition, the researchers identified adaptive features that drive S. saprophyticus evolution, defined the S. saprophyticus population structure, investigated dissemination routes and identified new pathogenicity factors."

- Food Safety News