Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
MRSA found in retail pork products - Human cause?
Unexpectedly high levels of MRSA found in retail pork products.
It is possible that a link between antibiotic use on the farm and MRSA on meat products may be obscured by human contamination of meat with MRSA after slaughter, according to investigators.
“Human carriage of MRSA in the US is approximately 50 times higher than what has been reported in the Netherlands (1.5% vs. 0.03%),” the researchers said.
The researchers collected 395 pork samples from 36 stores in Iowa, Minnesota and New Jersey, from which S. aureus was isolated from 256 samples (64.8%; 95% CI, 59.9-69.5).
The bacteria were isolated from 67.3% (202/300) of conventional pork samples and from 56.8% (54/95) of alternative pork samples. MSSA was present on 230 samples (58.2%; 95% CI, 53.2-63.1); 61% (183/300) of conventional samples and 49.5% of (47/95) alternative samples.
MRSA was present on 26 pork samples (6.6%; 95% CI, 4.3-9.5), and no statistically significant differences were observed for the prevalence of S. aureus, in general, or MSSA or MRSA specifically.
These findings, according to investigators, are in contrast to findings from the Netherlands, where a lower prevalence of MRSA in meat from biological-reared chickens (raised using no growth promotants) and wild fowl and game was found, in comparison to the prevalence of MRSA found in conventionally raised poultry in the same study.
MRSA - Today
MRSA found in retail pork products - Human cause?
Unexpectedly high levels of MRSA found in retail pork products.
It is possible that a link between antibiotic use on the farm and MRSA on meat products may be obscured by human contamination of meat with MRSA after slaughter, according to investigators.
“Human carriage of MRSA in the US is approximately 50 times higher than what has been reported in the Netherlands (1.5% vs. 0.03%),” the researchers said.
The researchers collected 395 pork samples from 36 stores in Iowa, Minnesota and New Jersey, from which S. aureus was isolated from 256 samples (64.8%; 95% CI, 59.9-69.5).
The bacteria were isolated from 67.3% (202/300) of conventional pork samples and from 56.8% (54/95) of alternative pork samples. MSSA was present on 230 samples (58.2%; 95% CI, 53.2-63.1); 61% (183/300) of conventional samples and 49.5% of (47/95) alternative samples.
MRSA was present on 26 pork samples (6.6%; 95% CI, 4.3-9.5), and no statistically significant differences were observed for the prevalence of S. aureus, in general, or MSSA or MRSA specifically.
These findings, according to investigators, are in contrast to findings from the Netherlands, where a lower prevalence of MRSA in meat from biological-reared chickens (raised using no growth promotants) and wild fowl and game was found, in comparison to the prevalence of MRSA found in conventionally raised poultry in the same study.
MRSA - Today