Fuente: PubMed "meat" Food Microbiol. 2026 Oct;139:105105. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2026.105105. Epub 2026 Apr 5.ABSTRACTMultidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa is currently one of the primary threats to human health, accounting for a significant proportion of difficult-to-treat infections globally. Although pork meat is frequently contaminated with Pseudomonas spp., well-known spoilage organisms, their potential role as reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant strains and associated risks to human health remains unclear. This study investigated the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas spp. (CRP) throughout the same pork processing chain, and assessed their pathogenicity and genetic relatedness. We sampled the entire pork processing chain - from live pigs to meat prepared by consumers - including live pigs, slaughterhouse workers, deboning surfaces, pork cuts, sliced meat and consumers hands (n = 91) and characterised isolated Pseudomonas spp. for their genetic content in resistance and virulence genes. Relatedness between CRP strains was assessed by core single-nucleotide polymorphisms analysis. A high load of Pseudomonas spp. was found in raw meat and was transmitted to consumers during meat handling (average increase: 3.3 × 105 CFU/hand). Furthermore, the prevalence of CRP was extremely high (imipenem 49%; meropenem 23%). Possibly related bacterial strains were detected in several points of the pork processing chain and human consumers. Checkerboard assays confirmed that efflux pumps mediated extrusion contributed to resistance to carbapenems in Pseudomonas spp. However, in P. aeruginosa isolates from pigs, carbapenems resistance was also possibly associated to the presence of carbapenemases (PDC-55, 19%; OXA-486, 19%), highly similar to those identified in human clinical strains (PDC-55, nucleotide ID: 99.4%), and mutations in OprD, encoding a specific outermembrane porin. Overall, our results point to the pork production chain as a potential reservoir of CRP, with consumer handling of raw meat representing a potential pathway for human cross-contamination.PMID:42215189 | DOI:10.1016/j.fm.2026.105105