MRSA in Pigs and Pork - UPDATE
Source: www.pighealth.com
MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria are being found increasingly in pig herds across Europe, N. America and Asia. They are of concern because MRSA has caused big problems in hospitals where patients with open wounds, invasive medical care devices or weakened immune systems are at risk of an infection which will not respond to treatment with beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins (methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc.) and cephalosporins.
These bacterial strains are sometimes called "multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus" or "oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus" (ORSA). The ST 398 clone is the one most commonly found in the West and the ST9 clone is the commonest one isolated in China.
Infection of food animals with MRSA is a potential risk to farm staff and visitors, veterinarians, slaughterhouse workers, butchers and members of the public visiting "petting zoos". The bacteria are killed by cooking so consumers are unlikely to be at any risk.
The cause of resistance selection in swine is primarily associated with the use of third and fourth generation cephalosporins and not other antibiotics. The risk to the general public is low but to pig farmers it is significant. Plans are afoot in the UK to stop advertising antimicrobial medicines directly to farmers and the EU is re-examining antimicrobial use on a wider scale.
Prevention is the best form of cure and hog farmers are being advised not to buy breeding or finishing stock from MRSA-infected sources.
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Tags: Actinobacillus, Haemophilus, MRSA, Pasteurella, abattoir, animals, antibiotic, bacterial, ceftiofur, cephalosporins, More…
Comment
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Comment by Mike on October 5, 2010 at 9:27am -
Cranberry Juice holds promise in the control of MRSA...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/wpi-cjs090110.php
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Comment by Mike on October 5, 2010 at 8:58am
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MRSA was originally seen as a "hospital acquired infection" but now hospitals are routinely screening new admissions - and finding positive carriers, because it is widely distributed in the community - which also means workers in the food and agriculture industries.
The good news is that of course most people - and most infected animals/food products - are just carriers of limited numbers of the bacteria and only a risk to especially vulnerable people e.g. on immune suppressant medications.
An interesting Dutch survey, just published this month, has found that 10% of pigs which were all uninfected at the farm, acquired MRSA in livestock transport trucks, while the infection rate shot up to 60% at the abattoir. No doubt a significant proportion of infected food products become infected by the human handlers or by contaminated equipment/surroundings.
For more information about this research and about relevant food hygiene see this:
Food Safety Downloads site.
Mike Meredith
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