Retail meat and poultry as a reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli Review Article

The purpose of this review article is to summarize steadily accruing evidence from around the world which indicate retail meat and poultry are a reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli. The majority of E. coli recovered from retail meat and poultry have been found resistant to at least one antimicrobial, and an increasing proportion have been found resistant to clinically important, frontline antimicrobials, including trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, fluoroquinolones, and third-generation cephalosporins. Continued surveillance throughout the food production continuum is needed to detect emerging resistance phenotypes.