Source: MEATINGPLACE, 7/24/15

Chicken, turkey and pork sold in grocery stores can harbor bacteria known as Klebsiella pneumoniae, according to a new study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.Researchers compared K. pneumoniae isolates from retail meat products and human clinical specimens to assess their similarity based on whole genome sequencing.

They found that 47 percent of the 508 meat products purchased from nine grocery stores in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2012 contained Klebsiella. They then analyzed urine and blood samples from area residents who were suffering from infections during the same time period, finding the bacteria in 10 percent of the 1,728 positive cultures from patients with either urinary tract or blood infections.

Using whole-genome DNA sequencing to compare the Klebsiella isolated from retail meat products with the Klebsiella isolated from patients, they found that some isolate pairs were nearly identical.

"This study is the first to suggest that consumers can be exposed to potentially dangerous Klebsiella from contaminated meat," study author Lance Price of George Washington University said in a news release.

"The U.S. government monitors food for only a limited number of bacterial species, but this study shows that focusing on the 'usual suspects' may not capture the full scope of food-borne pathogens," Price said.

For more stories, gwww.meatingplace.com.