Contaminated Meat Linked to Nearly 20% of UTIs in Southern California, Study Reveals

Daily Health

24/10/2025

A new study from George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health shows that dirty meat appears to cause a large share of urinary tract infections. The team calculates that about one in every six UTIs treated in Southern California stems from E. coli that probably arrived through meat, a source health officials had largely overlooked.

The same paper, released in the journal mBio, found that people who live in low income neighborhoods suffer those meat linked UTIs far more often than residents of wealthier areas. The gap reveals how poverty shapes illness and demands extra money and effort to close it.

Key Points

Roughly eighteen of every one hundred UTIs in the study traced back to E. coli that started in animals, a pattern doctors now call a foodborne UTI.
Chicken plus turkey carried the strains that showed up most often in sick patients.
People in low income ZIP codes developed those infections at a rate sixty percent higher than people in high income ZIP codes.
Women and older men were hit hardest.

How Meat Triggers UTIs

Urinary tract infections strike millions of women and elderly people each year but also cost the health system billions of dollars. E. coli bacteria cause most of those infections and the same germs routinely contaminate raw meat and poultry. Until now no one had measured how many UTIs come from meat. The researchers built a new genetic tool as well as compared more than 5,700 E. coli samples from hospital patients and from packages of meat sold in the same neighborhoods. The match showed which infections started on the farm or in the slaughterhouse.

Heavier Burden in Poor Areas

Senior author Lance B. A professor at GW, said that UTIs are not just a private medical problem - they are a food safety problem. The data open the door to prevention steps that protect people who already face the greatest hardship. “Your chance of getting sick should not hinge on your ZIP code,” Price said. He urged policymakers to fund work that untangles how poverty and food systems interact.

What Shoppers Can Do Now and What Scientists Will Do Next

The study took place in Southern California - yet the team expects similar results across the country. More work is needed to separate meat borne spread from other routes or to sharpen the models so they pinpoint the exact meat source and work in other regions and for other illnesses. While that research moves forward, shoppers can act today:

Buy meat also poultry only if the package seal is intact and shows no leaks.
Cook all meat and poultry until no pink remains next to the juices run clear.
Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat food - wash knives, boards and counters right after use.
Scrub hands with soap and water after touching raw meat.
Support laws plus programs that fix the conditions that put low income neighborhoods at greater risk.

The same group will refine the prediction tools and test them on bloodstream infections and other severe diseases tied to E. coli. They will also search for practical steps that cut the chance that meat will spread germs.

2025-10-03

Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally: 8 Effective Exercises

Discover 8 effective exercises and lifestyle tips to naturally lower your blood pressure, including walking, cycling, yoga, and breathing techniques.