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A dramatic resurgence of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Bangladesh in March 2021 coincided with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 (501Y.V2) variant of concern rapidly becoming the dominant circulating variant. Concurrently, increasing numbers of reinfections have been detected and the effective Reproductive number, Rt, has doubled, despite high levels of prior infection in Dhaka city. These data support the prediction that acquired immunity from past infection provides reduced protection against B.1.351, and highlights the major public health concern posed by immune escape variants, especially in populations where vaccination coverage remains low.

In Bangladesh, food sold at local markets are usually not kept under hygienic conditions leading to contamination with different microorganisms and deterioration of food quality. This study was carried out to examine the microbial quality of prawns sold at local markets. Prawn samples collected from different markets were assessed for their bacteriological quality using the multiple tube fermentation technique to determine coliform count using the most probable number method in Brilliant Green Lactose Broth (BGLB) media. Positive tubes of the presumptive test were further cultured on Eosine Methylene Blue(EMB) and Mac Conkey agar media. The organisms isolated were further characterized using biochemical tests. Out of the 65 samples, 47 (72.3%) showed positive results in all 3 tubes of dilution series using inoculum quantities of 1, 0.1 and 0.01 g.Among 65 samples 57 samples that contained at least one positive in each dilution series were further re-identified with biochemical tests.This study showed 56.14%isolates were Escherichia coli which conformed to expected biochemical reactions, formed round, small,elevated colonies with pink pigmentation on Mac Conkey agar media and round, small colonies with metallic green sheen pigmentation on EMB agar media. Other bacteria which presumptively appeared to be enterics and were isolated from BGLB were identified as Klebsiellapneumoniae(29.82%),Staphylococcus aureus(8.7%), Enterobacter aeroginosa(3.5%) and Salmonellatyphimurium (1.75%).Presumptive identification of E. coli in prawn in order to determine fecal contamination was able to identify ¾ of BGLB tubes with actual occurrence of E. coli. From this study it has been found that 97.14% bacteria were sensitive to Co-Trimoxazole, compared to other antibiotics used in this test whereas only 37.14% bacteria were sensitive to nitrofurantoin. This study also highlighted the fact that prawns act as a major source of E. coli which indicates possible fecal contamination as well as presence of potentially pathogenic E. coli and these bacteria are resistant at a great percentage to almost all of these antibiotics used in this study. Prawns must therefore be cooked adequately before consumption. Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 35 Number 1 June 2018, pp 13-16

The burden of street food contamination remains significantly higher among developing countries, making its consumers' health compromised. This study aimed at identifying Escherichia coli in local street foods, track their sources and characterize their virulence properties, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and incidence of recent fecal contamination. Twelve E. coli isolates isolated from 28 types of street foods sold at different locations of Dhaka metropolitan city were confirmed by both culture-based and molecular methods. Phylogroup B1 of environment origin was the most predominant (58%, n=12) among the isolates, followed by commensal phylogroup A (16%), phylogroup C (8%), D (8%), and E (8%). Alarmingly, 8% of the isolates were confirmed to be Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), harboring hlyA gene, and 41% were due to recent fecal contamination cases confirmed by the presence of the eae gene. Isolates showed the highest resistance to ampicillin, followed by chloramphenicol.  However, resistance could not be correlated to the presence of class 1 integron as isolates sensitive to these antibiotics also harbored this mobile genetic element. The findings of this study demonstrated the presence of antibiotic-resistant, potentially pathogenic E. coli in street food which emphasizes the health hazard associated with consumption of such foods.