Around one in 14 urinary tract infections (UTIs) may have been caused by bacteria in meat, a study found.
Researchers at George Washington University found that more than half a million urinary tract infections could be linked to strains known as FZECs (food-borne zoonotic E.coli).
Scientists in Flagstaff, Arizona, spent a year matching the UTI-causing E. coli found in patients at the town’s hospital to that of E. coli in turkey, chicken and pork products sold in the area.
The study revealed that eight per cent of the UTIs were caused by E. coli from local meat samples.
This translates into a national figure in the US of 480,000 to 640,000 UTIs caused by E.coli originating from those meats.
"People are carrying the strain of E coli that causes the UTI in their gut, so the bacteria have travelled from the anus [into the urinary tract to cause the infection]," said Lance Price, one of the study’s authors and a professor specialising in antibiotic resistance at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute school of public health in Washington DC.
“Our question was: how did the E. coli that caused the UTI get into the gut in the first place?"
Whether the food-borne E. coli were found on plant or meat products, their source was generally livestock, Price added.
Urinary tract infections are one of the most common types of infection, and are linked to millions of deaths worldwide each year.
But despite being so prevalent, early signs of a UTI can be challenging to recognise because symptoms - including pain, temperature, frequency of urination, changes in sleep patterns and tremors - vary due to a person’s age and pre-existing health conditions.
