E. Coli in Raw Meat May Cause Half-a-Million UTIs in the U.S. Every Year, Study Finds

Bacteria from raw meat may cause more than half a million urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the US every year, a new study finds. Researchers say raw meat often contains E. coli strains that cause UTIs and other illnesses. For their study, they collected raw chicken, turkey, and pork from grocery stores in one Arizona community and isolated E. coli from the samples. At the same time, they collected urine and blood E. coli from patients hospitalized with UTIs in the same area. Using genome sequencing, the researchers found that about 8% of the urinary tract infections could be linked to meat.

Scaling the results to the US population suggests foodborne E. coli may cause between 480,000 and 640,000 UTIs per year. One author says, "Our study provides compelling evidence that dangerous E. coli strains are making their way from food animals to people through the food supply and making people sick, sometimes really sick." The study suggests that meat producers and the FDA could do a better job monitoring pathogens in food and recommends that consumers protect themselves by washing their hands carefully and using separate surfaces when preparing raw meat.