Women had a higher proportion of zoonotic extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strains than men<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — About 18 percent of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are attributable to zoonotic extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli<\/em> (ExPEC) strains, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in mBio<\/em>.<\/p>\n Maliha Aziz, from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues estimated the proportion of UTIs attributable to zoonotic ExPEC across eight Southern California counties. A total of 12,616 E. coli<\/em> isolates were collected from retail meat and 23,483 from patients with UTI, sequencing a representative subset of 5,728 isolates. The host origin of each isolate was inferred using a Bayesian latent class model trained with 17 host-associated genetic markers.<\/p>\n The researchers found that overall, zoonotic ExPEC strains accounted for 18 percent of UTIs, increasing to 21.5 percent in high-poverty neighborhoods. The zoonotic proportion was higher among women than men (19.7 versus 8.5 percent). Among men, those with zoonotic versus nonzoonotic infections were older (median, 73 versus 65 years).<\/p>\n “Urinary tract infections have long been considered a personal health issue, but our findings suggest that they are also a food safety problem,” coauthor Lance B. Price, from George Washington University, said in a statement. “This opens up new avenues for prevention, especially for vulnerable communities that bear a disproportionate burden. This is why we should be investing more, not less, in research about the social determinants of health.”<\/p>\n