Is multidrug resistant bacteria on the menu?

“Stop overusing antibiotics in food-animal production,” is the message from James R. Johnson, co-author of a new study showing that contaminated meat may be an important source of human exposure to Klebsiella pneumoniae.
The study, published in the journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases, questions the idea of what a food-borne illness actually is. While well-known bacteria like Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter are common food poisoning culprits, antibiotic resistant Klebsiella may need to be added to the list.
In previous research, a significant percentage of retail meat has been found to contain Klebsiella.
Johnson's research team, from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, went a step further by studying 1728 patients with urinary tract or blood infections. They compared Klebsiella isolated from the meat products with Klebsiella found in these patients and through genome sequencing, they found that “some” isolate pairs were nearly identical.
The study concludes that '.... retail meat is a potential vehicle for transmitting virulent, antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae from food animals to humans’.
“As an infectious disease doctor, I have encountered Klebsiella pneumoniae in my patients,” said Dr Johnson.
“We tend to think of this organism as being one that individuals carry naturally, or acquire from the environment. This research suggests that we also can pick up these bacteria from the food we eat,” he said.
These findings, according to Dr Lance Price, lead author of the study, suggest that Klebsiella should be considered “another drug-resistant pathogen in the food supply, underscoring the public health concern regarding antibiotic use in food animal production.”
Dr Price, who recently launched the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center (ARAC) at Milken Institute, added, “This study is one of the many reasons we launched ARAC. We want to quantify the relationship between antibiotic use in food animal production and antibiotic-resistant infections in people.”
While further research is being undertaken into multidrug resistant bacteria and food safety guidelines are being reviewed there is something we can do according to Dr Price. “Meanwhile”, he said “there is one big thing that can be done to protect human health in relation to antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria: stop overusing antibiotics in food-animal production.”
 
References
Research Suggests Retail Meat is a Potential Vehicle for Disease-Causing Klebsiella
Milken Institute school of public health USA. George Washington University. 23 July 2015.
Flynn D. Study: Some Klebsiella Pneumonia Illnesses are Foodborne. Food Safety. 24 July, 2015.
Davis G et al. Intermingled Klebsiella pneumoniae Populations Between Retail Meats and Human Urinary Tract Infections. Clinical Infectious Diseases.  Volume 61, Issue 6 pp 892-899. 2015.