"Scary antibiotic-resistant infections aren’t just lurking in the hospital anymore. They’re in gyms, at the beach, and increasingly, on the farm."
"One strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) known as CC398 has been rapidly spreading through poultry and pig farms, infecting people who work with the animals around the world (up to 26.5 percent of farm workers sampled in the Neatherlands), and popping up in nearly half of all meat sampled in the U.S.
A new genetic study shows that this form of staph started out in humans as a more standard, susceptible strain. But only once it jumped to livestock did it become resistant to common antibiotics methicillin and tetracycline, according to the research, published online Tuesday in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology."
Katherine Harmon reports for Scientific American February 21, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"How Using Antibiotics In Animal Feed Creates Superbugs" (The Salt/NPR)
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