Airborne MRSA

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus “superbug” found not only contaminating the U.S. retail meat supply, but isolated from air samples outside swine CAFOs.

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“From Pigs to People. The Emergence of a New Superbug. The discovery of a novel strain of MRSA able to jump from livestock to humans.”

In this study, showing widespread and pervasive staph bacteria contamination of the U.S. meat supply this year—or at least in turkey, pork, chicken, and beef.

This is the scariest column. Oxacillin, which is in the same class as methicillin. These were of MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, now killing more Americans than AIDS every year in the United States—and now found in our retail meat supply.

From an overview of the problem, published last year out of the University of Iowa, overall MRSA prevalence in U.S. swine was found to be 11%, and higher in confinement operations—for example, where pregnant pigs are kept in crates for months on end.

And indeed, testing the workers, those working in confinement operations had a higher prevalence of MRSA in their nostrils. But they weren’t necessarily picking their nose. Airborne MRSA was found floating around, even outside the confinement buildings. Because of this, concern has arisen about MRSA as a potential environmental and public health hazard.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Peter Mellor.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

“From Pigs to People. The Emergence of a New Superbug. The discovery of a novel strain of MRSA able to jump from livestock to humans.”

In this study, showing widespread and pervasive staph bacteria contamination of the U.S. meat supply this year—or at least in turkey, pork, chicken, and beef.

This is the scariest column. Oxacillin, which is in the same class as methicillin. These were of MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, now killing more Americans than AIDS every year in the United States—and now found in our retail meat supply.

From an overview of the problem, published last year out of the University of Iowa, overall MRSA prevalence in U.S. swine was found to be 11%, and higher in confinement operations—for example, where pregnant pigs are kept in crates for months on end.

And indeed, testing the workers, those working in confinement operations had a higher prevalence of MRSA in their nostrils. But they weren’t necessarily picking their nose. Airborne MRSA was found floating around, even outside the confinement buildings. Because of this, concern has arisen about MRSA as a potential environmental and public health hazard.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Peter Mellor.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Doctor's Note

Be sure to check out my other videos on pork and foodborne illness.

For further context, also check out my associated blog post: Talking Turkey: 9 out of 10 retail turkey samples contaminated with fecal bacteria.

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