Researchers discovered retail chicken and turkey products have a possible link to urinary tract infections in people, according to a study published Aug. 28 in mBio.
Here are four things to know:
1. Researchers previously knew E. coli can be passed from person-to-person throughout a community or in hospitals. This study is the first to provide evidence that E. coli in fresh poultry products can cause bladder infections and UTIs in people.
2. For the study, researchers analyzed 1,735 E. coli-positive urine and blood cultures from patients at Flagstaff (Ariz.) Medical Center and 2,460 samples of turkey, chicken and pork from nine grocery stores in 2012 . In total, 1,923 meat isolates and 1,188 human clinical isolates were successfully sequenced.
3. The research team found E. coli in about 80 percent of the meat samples and about 72 percent of the urine and blood cultures that tested positive for the presence of bacteria.
4. Upon further investigation, the researchers found nearly all the E. coli in the meat products were from the same strain and contained a genetic makeup that helps the bacteria survive in birds. The same strain was also responsible for causing UTIs in people.
"Our results suggest that one [E. coli strain] has become established in poultry populations around the world and that meat may serve as a vehicle for human exposure and infection," the study authors concluded.