MADRID, 15 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A study by the University of Santiago de Compostela-Lugo, presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023), has revealed the presence of ‘E. coli’ in 40% of the supermarket meat samples analyzed.
Antibiotic resistance is reaching dangerously high levels around the world. Drug-resistant infections are estimated to kill around 700,000 people a year worldwide, and the number is forecast to rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken, according to the World Health Organization ( WHO) considers that antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to public health facing humanity.
Multi-resistant bacteria can spread from animals to people through the food chain, but due to trade sensitivities, data on levels of antibiotic-resistant bugs in food are not widely available.
To find out more, doctors Azucena Mora Gutiérrez and Vanesa García Menéndez, from the University of Santiago de Compostela-Lugo, together with colleagues from other research centers, designed a series of experiments to evaluate the levels of multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae and extraintestinal pathogens (‘ Klebsiella pneumoniae’, ‘E. coli’ and other bacteria that can cause multi-resistant infections such as sepsis or urinary tract infections) in meat on sale in Spanish supermarkets.
They analyzed 100 meat products (25 chicken, turkey, beef and pork) randomly chosen in supermarkets in Oviedo during 2020. The majority (73%) of the meat products contained levels of ‘E. coli’ that were within food safety limits.
Despite this, almost half (49%) contained ‘E. coli’ multiresistant and/or potentially pathogenic. 82 strains of ‘E. coli’. In addition, 12 strains of ‘K. pneumoniae’ from 10 of the 100 meat products (7 chicken, 2 turkey and 1 pork).
Forty of the 100 meat products contained ‘E. coli’ multiresistant (56 of the 82 ‘E. coli’ characterized). Among them were ‘E. coli that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), enzymes that confer resistance to most beta-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins, cephalosporins, and the monobactam aztreonam.
The percentage of samples positive for the presence of ‘E. coli’ producing ESBL by type of meat was: 68% turkey, 56% chicken, 16% beef and 12% pork. This greater presence of strains of ‘E. coli’ that produce ESBL in poultry compared to other types of meat is probably due to differences in production and slaughter.
27% of meat products contained ‘E. potentially pathogenic extraintestinal coli (ExPEC). ExPECs possess genes that allow them to cause disease outside of the gastrointestinal tract. ExPEC cause the vast majority of urinary tract infections (UTIs), are one of the leading causes of adult bacteremia (sepsis) and the second most common cause of neonatal meningitis.
6% of meat products contained ‘E. coli’ (UPEC), which is part of the ExPEC group and has specific virulence traits that allow it to cause urinary tract infections.
1% of meat products contained ‘E. coli carrying the mcr-1 gene. This gene confers resistance to colistoma. This gene confers resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used to treat infections caused by bacteria resistant to all other antibiotics.
The study authors, who in a previous study reported high levels of bacteria potentially capable of causing serious and/or multi-resistant human infections in chicken and turkey, say their latest research shows that consumers may also be exposed to these bacteria. through beef and pork.
They ask that the levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria, including ‘E. coli’ ExPEC, in meat products.
Dr. Mora adds that “interventions from the farm to the table must be a priority to protect the consumer. For example, the application of surveillance laboratory methods that allow for the further study of high-risk bacteria (in farm animals and meat) and its evolution due to the latest EU restriction programs on the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine”.
“Strategies on farms, such as vaccinations, to reduce the presence of specific multi-resistant and pathogenic bacteria in animals destined for food production, which would reduce the transport of meat and the risk to the consumer,” he continues.
As he points out, “consumers play a key role in food safety through proper food handling. Consumer advice includes not breaking the cold chain from the supermarket to the home, cooking meat well, storing it properly in the refrigerator and properly disinfect knives, cutting boards and other kitchen utensils used to prepare raw meat, in order to avoid cross-contamination. With these measures, eating meat becomes a pleasure and zero risk,” he warns.
