Impact of E. Coli Contamination On Food Security And Public Health

Abstract

Contamination of food with Escherichia coli continues to pose a significant public health risk and threaten food security. We determined the prevalence, pathotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli in foods commonly consumed by humans, along with the associated public health and food security issues. A 12-month cross-sectional surveillance design was used, with microbiological analysis of 360 food samples (90 per category: raw milk, raw meat, fresh vegetables, and ready-to-eat foods) and clinical and exposure data from 180 individuals reporting foodborne disease. In total, E. coli was isolated from 100 (27.8%) food samples, with raw meat (37.8%) and raw milk (31.1%) being the most frequent. The average bacterial load varied from 2.6 ± 0.9 ×10³ CFU/g (in ready-to-eat food) to 5.9 ± 1.6 ×10³ CFU/g (in raw meat). Enterotoxigenic (29%), enteropathogenic (24%), and Shiga toxin-producing (18%) E. coli were identified as the predominant pathotypes, respectively, based on the analysis. The proportion of resistance profiles was high for ampicillin (71%) and tetracycline (65%), and 46% of isolates were multidrug-resistant. Of the 180 people exposed, 67 (37.2%) had lab-confirmed E. coli infections. There were also six cases of dehydration, including one hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) case, nine hospitalized, and three deaths. The food security assessment showed significantly higher proportions of rejected foods, greater household food waste, lower food availability scores, and consumers’ lower confidence in high contamination (P < 0.001). These results provide a quantitative estimate of the interrelated effects of E. coli contamination on food safety, public health, antimicrobial resistance, and food security, highlighting the importance of holistic food system interventions.