More than a thousand retail meat samples have been tested for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination in North America.
MRSA in U.S. Retail Meat
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If you’re not a factory farm pig, or factory farm worker, nor take showers in pork production facilities, is there reason for concern about the level of MRSA superbug infection in US pig herds?
Retail meat samples were taken from 22 grocery stores, including pork, chicken, beef, turkey, bison, veal, hen, and lamb. 1% were found positive for MRSA. That was reported last year.
This year: “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in retail meat, Detroit, Michigan, USA” in the CDC journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases. 289 samples from 30 grocery stores, and chicken was found to be the worst. 3.9% of chicken samples were found to be contaminated with MRSA.
A much more in-depth study carried out in Canada. More than 900 samples of retail meat were tested. MRSA was isolated from about 10% of pork, 5% of beef, and 1% of chicken samples.
What are the practical implications? “Touching one’s nose after handling contaminated meat could plausibly result in nasal colonization, and contact of contaminated meat with skin lesions could potentially result in MRSA infection.” As NYU professor Marc Siegel summed it up, “MRSA is a big problem and appears to be invading our meat.”
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 veganmontreal.
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- Leedom Larson KR, Harper AL, Hanson BM, Male MJ, Wardyn SE, Dressler AE, Wagstrom EA, Tendolkar S, Diekema DJ, Donham KJ, Smith TC. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pork Production Shower Facilities. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Jan;77(2):696-8.
- Smith TC, Male MJ, Harper AL, Kroeger JS, Tinkler GP, Moritz ED, Capuano AW, Herwaldt LA, Diekema DJ. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Strain ST398 Is Present in Midwestern U.S. Swine and Swine Workers. PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4258.
- Harper AL, Ferguson DD, Leedom Larson KR, Hanson BM, Male MJ, Donham KJ, Smith TC. An overview of livestock-associated MRSA in agriculture. J Agromedicine. 2010 Apr;15(2):101-4.
- Weese JS, Avery BP, Reid-Smith RJ. Detection and quantification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones in retail meat products. Lett Appl Microbiol. 2010 Sep;51(3):338-42.
Image thanks to flako / Flickr
If you’re not a factory farm pig, or factory farm worker, nor take showers in pork production facilities, is there reason for concern about the level of MRSA superbug infection in US pig herds?
Retail meat samples were taken from 22 grocery stores, including pork, chicken, beef, turkey, bison, veal, hen, and lamb. 1% were found positive for MRSA. That was reported last year.
This year: “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in retail meat, Detroit, Michigan, USA” in the CDC journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases. 289 samples from 30 grocery stores, and chicken was found to be the worst. 3.9% of chicken samples were found to be contaminated with MRSA.
A much more in-depth study carried out in Canada. More than 900 samples of retail meat were tested. MRSA was isolated from about 10% of pork, 5% of beef, and 1% of chicken samples.
What are the practical implications? “Touching one’s nose after handling contaminated meat could plausibly result in nasal colonization, and contact of contaminated meat with skin lesions could potentially result in MRSA infection.” As NYU professor Marc Siegel summed it up, “MRSA is a big problem and appears to be invading our meat.”
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 veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Leedom Larson KR, Harper AL, Hanson BM, Male MJ, Wardyn SE, Dressler AE, Wagstrom EA, Tendolkar S, Diekema DJ, Donham KJ, Smith TC. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pork Production Shower Facilities. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Jan;77(2):696-8.
- Smith TC, Male MJ, Harper AL, Kroeger JS, Tinkler GP, Moritz ED, Capuano AW, Herwaldt LA, Diekema DJ. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Strain ST398 Is Present in Midwestern U.S. Swine and Swine Workers. PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4258.
- Harper AL, Ferguson DD, Leedom Larson KR, Hanson BM, Male MJ, Donham KJ, Smith TC. An overview of livestock-associated MRSA in agriculture. J Agromedicine. 2010 Apr;15(2):101-4.
- Weese JS, Avery BP, Reid-Smith RJ. Detection and quantification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones in retail meat products. Lett Appl Microbiol. 2010 Sep;51(3):338-42.
Image thanks to flako / Flickr
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MRSA in U.S. Retail Meat
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Content URLDoctor's Note
Be sure to check out my other videos on pork, and in particular: Airborne MRSA.
And for more context, don’t miss my corresponding blog posts: Talking Turkey: 9 out of 10 retail turkey samples contaminated with fecal bacteria; Why is it Legal to Sell Unsafe Meat?; and Bugs & Drugs in Pork: Yersinia and Ractopamine.
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