After workers handle raw poultry, the cutting boards and the hands of food preparers remain a source of transmission for multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as E. coli that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), according to a study of household and hospital kitchens in the May issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

"Our findings emphasize the importance of hand hygiene, not only after handling raw poultry, but also after contact with cutting boards used in poultry preparation," said Andreas Widmer, MD, lead author of the study.

According to an article on the News Medical website, researchers collected and examined 154 cutting boards from a hospital and 144 from private households after preparation of various meats and before being cleaned. They also collected 20 pairs of gloves from hospital kitchen employees after they handled raw poultry. 

Researchers found that 6.5 percent of hospital cutting boards used in preparation of poultry were contaminated with the E. coli. Researchers found E. coli on 3.5 percent of the household boards. They found that 50 percent of the gloves were contaminated.

Read the article.