Thread: Drug-resistant salmonella possibly in turkey burgers

Drug-resistant salmonella possibly in turkey burgers

Health officials warn tainted meat may still be in stores despite earlier recall

msnbc.com msnbc.com
updated 54 minutes ago 2011-04-05T03:19:26

Government health officials are warning that salmonella bacteria detected in an outbreak of food poisoning from popular turkey burgers may be resistant to common drugs used to fight serious infection.

At least a dozen people in 10 states have been sickened by raw, frozen turkey burger products produced by the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, Minn. The firm recalled nearly 55,000 pounds of the meat last week after illnesses were reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Late Monday, CDC officials announced that the strain of Samonella Hadar found in the meat appear to be resistant to several common antibiotics, including ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, cephalothin and tetracycline.

Drug resistance can "increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals," a CDC statement said.

Health officials have long worried about development of a strain of drug-resistant bacteria in a mass outbreak of foodborne illness.

Among the 12 people with illnesses associated with the turkey burgers, three have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses have been detected in people from ages 1 to 86, with a median age of 29. Cases have been reported from Dec. 27, 2010 through March 24, 2011. Illnesses that occurred after March 18 may not yet be logged because it can take two to three weeks between the time a person becomes ill and when the infection is reported.

So far, illnesses have been reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. Wisconsin has three cases; the nine other states reported one case apiece. Investigators have not been able to confirm that all of the ill people actually ate the burgers; however, at least three peple in Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin specifically reported eating the turkey burgers the week before they became ill. Samples of turkey burgers taken from patients' homes in Colorado and Wisconsin tested positive for Salmonella Hadar.

The recall includes 4-pound boxes of Jennie-O Turkey Store All Natural Turkey Burgers with seasonings Lean White Meat. Each box contains 12 1/3-pound individually wrapped burgers. The boxes are marked with a use-by date of Dec. 23, 2011 and a lot code of 32710 through 32780. Establishment number P-7760 is located within a USDA mark of inspection on the front of each box.

Health officials warn that recalled turkey burgers might still be in grocery stores and in consumers' homes, including in the freezer. Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. Otherwise, dispose of the product in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can to prevent animals from eating the meat.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42425976/ns ... od_safety/

This is from the New England Journal of Medicine, 2001. 10 yeeears and the use of anotibiotics in animals seems to have increased.

The Isolation of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella from Retail Ground Meats

David G. White, Ph.D., Shaohua Zhao, D.V.M., Ph.D., Robert Sudler, M.S., Sherry Ayers, Sharon Friedman, B.A., Sheng Chen, D.V.M., Patrick F. McDermott, Ph.D., Shawn McDermott, B.S., David D. Wagner, Ph.D., and Jianghong Meng, D.V.M., Ph.D.

N Engl J Med 2001; 345:1147-1154October 18, 2001

Salmonella is a leading cause of food-borne illness. The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant salmonella is associated with the use of antibiotics in animals raised for food; resistant bacteria can be transmitted to humans through foods, particularly those of animal origin. We identified and characterized strains of salmonella isolated from ground meats purchased in the Washington, D.C., area.

Full Text of Background ...

Methods
Salmonella was isolated from samples of ground chicken, beef, turkey, and pork purchased at three supermarkets. The isolates were characterized by serotyping, antimicrobial-susceptibility testing, phage typing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing were used to identify resistance integrons and extended spectrum β-lactamase genes.

Full Text of Methods ...

Results
Of 200 meat samples, 41 (20 percent) contained salmonella, with a total of 13 serotypes. Eighty-four percent of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic, and 53 percent were resistant to at least three antibiotics. Sixteen percent of the isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone, the drug of choice for treating salmonellosis in children. Bacteriophage typing identified four isolates of Salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium definitive type 104 (DT104), one of DT104b, and two of DT208. Five isolates of S. enterica serotype agona had resistance to 9 antibiotics, and the two isolates of serotype typhimurium DT208 were resistant to 12 antibiotics. Electrophoretic patterns of DNA that were indistinguishable from one another were repeatedly found in isolates from different meat samples and different stores. Eighteen isolates, representing four serotypes, had integrons with genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, trimethoprim, and β-lactams.

Full Text of Results ...

Conclusions
Resistant strains of salmonella are common in retail ground meats. These findings provide support for the adoption of guidelines for the prudent use of antibiotics in food animals and for a reduction in the number of pathogens present on farms and in slaughterhouses. National surveillance for antimicrobial-resistant salmonella should be extended to include retail meats.


http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa010315