August 30, 2018

E. coli strain from retail poultry can infect people

While E. coli can be passed from person to person, a new study has found that a strain of the bacterium in contaminated retail chicken and turkey products can be passed to people, reports Science Daily.

The study, "Escherichia coli ST131-H22 as a Foodborne Uropathogen," published on Aug. 28 in the American Society for Microbiology's open access journal mBio, provides evidence that the E. coli in fresh poultry products can be passed to people, leading to bladder infections and other serious conditions.

It said that more than 80% of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by E. coli, but only a few strains are responsible for most of the serious infections. One type of E. coli, called E. coli ST131, was cited as particularly adept at traveling from the bladder to the blood, and this kills thousands of people in the US each year.

Previous studies suggested that retail meat was not a source of E. coli ST131, but new research suggests that these earlier studies may have been too narrowly focused. The study's research team, led by Dr. Lance B. Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center based at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, found that there are multiple strains of E. coli ST131 and that one strain in particular may be passed to people through contaminated poultry meat.

The team found E. coli in nearly 80% of the 2,452 meat samples and in 72% of the positive urine and blood cultures from patients. E. coli ST131 was the most common type infecting people and was also present in the meat samples.

"In the past, we could say that E. coli from people and poultry were related to one another, but with this study, we can more confidently say that the E. coli went from poultry to people and not vice versa," Price said.