5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  Zoonotic E. coli accounted for 18% of community UTIs in Southern California from 2017 to 2021, with higher rates in high-poverty neighborhoods.

• 2

  Women had a higher proportion of zoonotic E. coli infections compared to men, with rates of 19.7% and 8.5%, respectively.

• 3

  Men with zoonotic UTIs were older than those with non-zoonotic infections, with median ages of 73 and 65 years.

• 4

  Residence in high-poverty areas was linked to a 1.6-fold increased risk of zoonotic E. coli infections compared to low-poverty areas.

• 5

  The study analyzed 23,483 urine isolates and 12,616 retail-meat samples, using genomic sequencing to infer host origins of infections.