FSTDT Forums
Community => Science and Technology => Topic started by: gyeonghwa on February 24, 2012, 03:19:18 pm
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linky (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/02/21/staph-turns-into-drug-resistant-superbug-on-farms/)
Scary antibiotic-resistant infections aren’t just lurking in the hospital anymore. They’re in gyms, at the beach, and increasingly, on the farm.
One strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) known as CC398 has been rapidly spreading through poultry and pig farms, infecting people who work with the animals around the world (up to 26.5 percent of farm workers sampled in the Neatherlands), and popping up in nearly half of all meat sampled in the U.S.
A new genetic study shows that this form of staph started out in humans as a more standard, susceptible strain. But only once it jumped to livestock did it become resistant to common antibiotics methicillin and tetracycline, according to the research, published online Tuesday in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
“Staph thrives in crowded and unsanitary conditions,” Price said. “Add antibiotics to that environment, and you’re going to create a public health problem.” A new form of MRSA was reported in humans and dairy cows in 2011.
I'd like to remind you that the FDA isn't regulating (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/fda-ag-antibiotics/) antibiotic use in meat right now because profit.