MRSA in Pork
Breaking News: The chronic overuse of antibiotics in farming practices has yielded the discovery of LA-MRSA in livestock, meat, and people in the UK.
The superbug CC398 is a variant of the more commonly known MRSA found in hospitals and is endemic in pig farms in some European countries, particularly Denmark, Europe’s biggest pork producer and a key exporter to the UK. The Guardian tested 74 Danish pork products and 25 British, and one from Ireland. CC398 is linked to intensive farms, where the density of pigs crowded together becomes a flashpoint for disease, and farmers become reliant on antibiotics to keep animals healthy and alive. This has led to the emergence of CC398, which is resistant to antibiotics. Two thirds of Denmark’s pig farms are currently infected with CC398, where it is spreading rapidly: 648 people were infected with CC398 in 2013; in 2014, 1,271 people contracted the bug. Of those infected two people died as a result of the infection, and many suffered serious blood poisoning.
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to readers given the rise in complications due to animal food products initially raised in an environment in which antibiotics are liberally applied as health precautionary (i.e. the farming practices are set in such a way that as many animals as possible are output, at the optimal size, given the cost of conditions and timing intervals required from infancy to slaughter). This recurring issue has raised public awareness throughout the world, and many consumers have urged food sources such as chain restaurants to provide meat sans antibiotics. As it stands and is noted above, Denmark has had a serious problem with MRSA, “two thirds of Denmark’s pig farms are currently infected…” This endemic has microbiologists warning Britain about the practices and the possible consequences and the reliance on casual workers moving from farm to farm seems to indicate a possible spreading mechanism. The FSA has noted that there are currently no known cases of the consumption of meat yielding a contraction of LA-MRSA (they don’t deny that there is a link between livestock spreading the bug to humans), though research has indicated the presence of LA-MRSA in meat sold in the UK. They also stated that “good hygiene and thorough cooking practices” will make the odds of contraction of LA-MRSA very low.
Original article: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/18/mrsa-superbug-in-supermarket-pork-raises-alarm-farming-risks
Image source: http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/articles/health_tools/MRSA_revised_slideshow/cdc_rf_photo_of_mrsa.jpg