Pediatric urinary tract infections caused by poultry-associated Escherichia coli

Authors

Maliha Aziz, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Gregg S. Davis, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Daniel E. Park, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Azza H. Idris, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC, USA.
Sanjeev Sariya, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Yashan Wang, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Sarah Zerbonne, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Lora Nordstrom, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
Brett Weaver, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
Sally Statham, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
Timothy J. Johnson, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Joseph Campos, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC, USA.
Eduardo Castro-Nallar, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
Keith A. Crandall, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Zhenke Wu, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Cindy M. Liu, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Roberta L. DeBiasi, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC, USA.
Lance B. Price, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-2-2024

Journal

Microbiology spectrum

Volume

12

Issue

7

DOI

10.1128/spectrum.03415-23

Keywords

Bayesian latent class model; Escherichia coli; foodborne; pediatric; poultry; urinary tract infection

Abstract

is the leading cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children and adults. The gastrointestinal tract is the primary reservoir of uropathogenic , which can be acquired from a variety of environmental exposures, including retail meat. In the current study, we used a novel statistical-genomic approach to estimate the proportion of pediatric UTIs caused by foodborne zoonotic strains. urine isolates were collected from DC residents aged 2 months to 17 years from the Children's National Medical Center Laboratory, 2013-2014. During the same period, isolates were collected from retail poultry products purchased from 15 sites throughout DC. A total of 52 urine and 56 poultry isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing, core genome phylogenetic analysis, and host-origin prediction by a Bayesian latent class model that incorporated data on the presence of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) among isolates from multiple vertebrate hosts. A total of 56 multilocus sequence types were identified among the isolates. Five sequence types-ST10, ST38, ST69, ST117, and ST131-were observed among both urine and poultry isolates. Using the Bayesian latent class model, we estimated that 19% (10/52) of the clinical isolates in our population were foodborne zoonotic strains. These data suggest that a substantial portion of pediatric UTIs in the Washington DC region may be caused by strains originating in food animals and likely transmitted via contaminated poultry meat.IMPORTANCE UTIs are a heavy public health burden and can have long-term negative health consequences for pediatric patients. has an extremely broad host range, including humans, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cattle. derived from food animals is a frequent contaminant of retail meat products, but little is known about the risk these strains pose to pediatric populations. Quantifying the proportion of pediatric UTIs caused by food-animal-derived , characterizing the highest-risk strains, and identifying their primary reservoir species could inform novel intervention strategies to reduce UTI burden in this vulnerable population. Our results suggest that retail poultry meat may be an important vehicle for pediatric exposure to zoonotic strains capable of causing UTIs. Vaccinating poultry against the highest-risk strains could potentially reduce poultry colonization, poultry meat contamination, and downstream pediatric infections.

APA Citation

Aziz, Maliha; Davis, Gregg S.; Park, Daniel E.; Idris, Azza H.; Sariya, Sanjeev; Wang, Yashan; Zerbonne, Sarah; Nordstrom, Lora; Weaver, Brett; Statham, Sally; Johnson, Timothy J.; Campos, Joseph; Castro-Nallar, Eduardo; Crandall, Keith A.; Wu, Zhenke; Liu, Cindy M.; DeBiasi, Roberta L.; and Price, Lance B., "Pediatric urinary tract infections caused by poultry-associated Escherichia coli" (2024). GW Authored Works. Paper 5335.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/5335

Department

Environmental and Occupational Health