- Hello Jeff - We have warned people time and again for
more than ten years about the risks of eating meat. The post below shows
that colonization of swine by MRSA was very common in one of two corporate
swine production systems in the study below.
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- Eating beef is just as risky when it comes to MRSA as
MRSA can be found in cattle, horses, dogs, cats, and as demonstrated below,
swine.
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- Corporate farming with its crowded conditions and its
over-use of antibiotics set the stage for development of these antibiotic
resistant pathogens.
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- It is simply not worth the risk to eat pork or any other
meat product.
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- Patty
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- STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (METHICILLIN-RESISTANT), HUMAN,
SWINE - USA: (IOWA, ILLINOIS)
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- Date: Fri 23 Jan 2009 Source: BrightSurf.com [edited]
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/42671/Study_
finds_MRSA_in_Midwestern_swine_workers.html
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- "Our results show that colonization of swine by
MRSA [methicillin-resistant _Staphylococcus aureus_] was very common in
one of 2 corporate swine production systems we studied," said Tara
Smith, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology in the University of Iowa
College of Public Health and lead author of the study. "Because ST398
was found in both animals and humans, it suggests transmission between
the 2. Our findings also suggest that once MRSA is introduced, it may spread
broadly among both swine and their caretakers. Agricultural animals could
become an important reservoir for this bacterium," Smith added.
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- _Staphylococcus aureus_, often called "staph,"
are bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people.
MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics
commonly used to treat it. A recent study estimated that MRSA caused 94
000 infections and more than 18 000 deaths in the United States in 2005.
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- MRSA has been found in a variety of animals, including
horses, cattle, dogs, cats, and swine. Previous studies have shown that
many swine and swine farmers in Canada and the Netherlands are colonized
with MRSA. However, the University of Iowa study was the first to investigate
carriage of MRSA among swine and swine farmers in the United States.
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- For the study, investigators analyzed nasal swabs of
299 swine and 20 swine workers from 2 different production systems in Iowa
and Illinois. At Production System A, the overall prevalence of MRSA was
70 percent in swine and 64 percent in workers. At Production System B,
all swine and human samples were negative for MRSA.
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- The researchers could not determine why System A had
a high prevalence rate of MRSA among its swine and swine handlers, but
listed several differences compared to System B. First, the systems raised
different breeds of swine. Second, System A was an older, more established
operation that had approximately twice the number of animals as System
B. Third, both systems imported sows from different sources, raising the
possibility that ST398 may have been introduced via live swine or pork
products.
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- Other research has shown that ST398 accounts for 20 percent
of all MRSA detected in the Netherlands, demonstrating the importance of
considering livestock and other animals when examining the epidemiology
of MRSA. "Iowa ranks 1st in the nation in swine production,"
Smith said. "Transmission of MRSA on swine farms or in veterinary
facilities could complicate efforts to reduce MRSA transmission statewide
and beyond."
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- The investigators recommended that future studies assess
the risk of MRSA disease among swine workers and their contacts, survey
retail meat products for MRSA contamination, study larger populations of
swine and humans to define the epidemiology of MRSA within swine operations,
and assess MRSA carriage rates in other livestock.
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- -- Communicated by: ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland
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- [Terry Singeltary <<mailto:flounder9@verizon.net>flounder9@verizon.net>
is thanked for originally bringing to ProMED-mail's attention the journal
article that prompted this news release: Smith TC, Male MJ, Harper AL,
et al: Methicillin-Resistant _Staphylococcus aureus_ (MRSA) Strain ST398
Is Present in Midwestern U.S. Swine and Swine Workers. PLoS ONE 4(1): e4258.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004258, available at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004258>.
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- In this study, MRSA isolates were not typeable by pulsed
field gel electro-phoresis (PFGE) using Sma-1, but digestion with EagI
revealed that the isolates were clonal. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST)
documented that the isolates were ST398. The isolates were, however, not
related to common human types in Iowa (USA100, USA300, and USA400). The
investigators suggest that additional studies in larger populations will
be needed to identify risk factors among the swine workers for acquisition
of MRSA ST398.
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- This is not the 1st time that MRSA ST 398 was found in
livestock and livestock workers in North America. Colonization with MRSA
ST398 has recently been reported in pigs and pig farmers in Ontario, Canada
(see ProMED-mail posting 20071109.3640). The investigators of the recent
study in the United States point out that "a portion of the sows at
PSA [production site A, where ST398 was found], were imported from Canada,
while those from PSB [production site B, where ST398 was not found], originated
in Michigan. Canada is the most important exporter of live hogs to the
US. Thus, it is possible that ST398 may have been brought into the US via
live swine or pork products."
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- [From Mod.ML's comments in a prior ProMED-mail post archive
number 20080605.1799:
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- "Non-typeable (NT)-MRSA by pulse field gel electrophoresis
(PFGE) using Sma-1 and belonging to multilocus sequence type (MLST) ST
398 initially was detected in the Netherlands in pigs and pig farmers in
2003. This strain of presumably animal origin (nearly 40 percent of pigs
in the Netherlands have been found to be colonized by this strain) is now
reported to be responsible for more than 20 percent of all MRSA infections
in the Netherlands (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/568512 -- subscription
required), and has been found in community-associated human infections
in several European countries, North America, and Asia. Nosocomial transmission
of this strain has also been reported recently among patients and health
care workers in the Netherlands http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid18/abstract.asp?id=69352"
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin,
- Tropical Agricultural Economics Univ of West Indies
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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