Staphylococcus aureus Bacteria Found in Meat, Poultry Products in US
by Mike Noryt in Health News on Apr 17, 2011
Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to drug and antibiotics are present in around half of all the meats and poultry (chicken, turkey, beef, pork) products sold in the United States according to a recent study.
Staphylococcus aureus is a kind of bacteria that causes different kinds of diseases in humans, mostly infectious and life-threatening.
This strain of bacteria is also known to cause mild skin infections, sepsis, pneumonia and others.
Researchers conducted the study by obtaining 136 samples of beef, pork, chicken and turkey products nationwide. Around 80 brands were involved in the study. Chicago; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C. were the locations of the sourced samples.
Forty eight or around 60 of the said samples were found out of be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and even worse, more than 50% of these bacteria are immon to at least three types of antibiotics.
According to Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, the foods that these animals eat are contributory to the bacteria contamination. This finding is based on a DNA testing that they conducted which is published on journal Clinical Infectious Diseases last April 15.
“For the first time, we know how much of our meat and poultry is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Staph, and it is substantial,” remarked Lance B. Price, director of TGen’s Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health and senior author of the published study .
Price said that the study implies the manner antibiotics are being used in food-animal production today. He also said that because the animals are constantly being fed with low dose of antibiotics as an industry standard the animals themselves became an “ideal breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria that move from animals to humans.”
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