A new study from George Washington University suggests that Escherichia coli infection from meat products may be responsible for hundreds of thousands of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the U.S. each year.
Researchers from Livsmedelsverket, known as the Swedish Food Agency in English, have developed a new approach for ranking and classifying strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) based on potential public health burden.
Further underlining the pertinence of mitigating the growing global public health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), recent research revealed 40 percent of Spanish supermarket meat samples to be contaminated with multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data on from humans, animals, and food are compiled annually by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in a yearly EU Summary Report. Alongside the report, EFSA has also published data visualization tools and resources on AMR on zoonotic pathogens in Europe.
Using whole genome sequencing (WGS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were able to link a persistent, drug-resistant strain of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to multiple sources for various foodborne illness outbreaks.
Researchers have introduced a novel, thermal biosensor for real-time detection of Escherichia coli,demonstrating its ability to detect the pathogen in milk without sample preparation. The sensor would be easy to mass produce, and shows potential as a low-cost, rapid tool for onsite microbial indication.
In an after-action review of a 2022 Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to ground beef, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) highlights the importance of improving outreach to food retail stores about best food safety practices for beef that will be ground.
Researchers are exploring the potential of protective bacterial cultures to mitigate the growth of foodborne pathogens that have developed antimicrobial resistance.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has announced upcoming changes and expansions to its beef sampling and testing programs for Escherichia coli and Salmonella.