Pig Manure Linked To MRSA Infections
While hospital-acquired cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) infections are dramatically on the decline, community-spread instances have only been reduced marginally. Research suggests that some of these MRSA cases are related to pig manure.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, was conducted in Pennsylvania and compares the rates of infection in people who live close to a farm to those without any exposure to swine manure. In their conclusion, the team of doctors from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore states that “proximity to swine manure application to crop fields and livestock operations each was associated with MRSA and skin and soft-tissue infection. These findings contribute to the growing concern about the potential public health impacts of high-density livestock production.”
This puts those who work with pig manure as fertilizer or those living near swine farms at greater risk of the dangerous infection, often referred to as a “superbug” because of its resistance to antibiotics. According to Dr. Joan Casey, lead researcher of the team, these findings suggest that manure is helping antibiotic resistance to spread.
“We’ve certainly described a connection we think is plausible,” she says. “We haven’t described every step in the path.”
Antibiotics are often used in livestock feed in order to fatten up the animals. This common practice of modern farming accounts for nearly 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States. The manure produced by these animals contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Could this be putting consumers at greater risk? The research certainly suggests so.
