C. difficile Superbugs in Meat
Why does the United States appear to have the highest level of C. diff contamination of the meat supply?
Why does the United States appear to have the highest level of C. diff contamination of the meat supply?
The FDA’s suggestion that the meat industry voluntarily stop feeding antibiotics by the ton to farm animals to fatten them faster falls short of the changes needed to forestall the epidemic of antibiotic resistance.
The emergence of pathogens resistant to even our antibiotics of last resort has raised the specter of a “post-antibiotic age” in which drugs to fight infections may be useless. This has focused attention on the mass use of antibiotics in farm animal feed to promote growth and prevent infection in high density production.
More than a thousand retail meat samples have been tested for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination in North America.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus “superbug” found not only contaminating the U.S. retail meat supply, but isolated from air samples outside swine CAFOs.