July 15, 2008
US scientists find MRSA in pigs
Scientists from the University of Iowa conducted a test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with results revealing that a high percentage of tested pigs carrying the bacterium.
Of the 200 tested pigs, 70 percent were found to carry ST398, a strain of MRSA that is known to affect humans.
Nearly half of 20 workers in local pig farms carried ST398, which implies a way to the more dense community. However, MRSA patients in US hospitals were not yet tested to find out if they carry ST398.
The government tests meat but not livestock for MRSA. In the UK, at least three people are known to have contracted ST398 but it remains to be seen if they were infected by handling or eating meat.
