. Energy News .




FARM NEWS
Workers at industrial farms carry drug-resistant bacteria associated with livestock
by Staff Writers
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jul 03, 2013


File image.

A new study found drug-resistant bacteria associated with livestock in the noses of industrial livestock workers in North Carolina but not in the noses of antibiotic-free livestock workers. The drug-resistant bacteria examined were Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as "Staph," which include the well-known bug MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). New Staph strains are emerging in people who have close contact with livestock animals and for this reason have been given the name livestock-associated Staph.

While everyone in the study had direct or indirect contact with livestock, only industrial workers carried antibiotic-resistant Staph with multiple genetic characteristics linked to livestock.

The study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, the George Washington University, and the Statens Serum Institute, published July 2 by the journal PLOS ONE, confirms earlier findings in Iowa and raises concern about antibiotics use in livestock production.

Many industrial livestock operations raise animals in large conferment buildings and use antibiotics, including non-therapeutically in animals' feed and water to promote their growth. Previous studies have detected strains of drug-resistant S. aureus from livestock, first among farm workers, and subsequently in hospital and community settings in Europe.

In the United States, such strains have been detected among industrial livestock operation workers in Iowa and now North Carolina making scientists concerned that these bacteria could follow a similar trajectory into the community. North Carolina is a major livestock producer, ranking second behind Iowa in hog production in the United States.

S. aureus can cause a range of illnesses in humans, from minor to life-threatening skin, bloodstream, respiratory, urinary and surgical site infections. Like most illnesses caused by bacteria, S. aureus infections are treated with antibiotics.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some Staph cannot be killed by antibiotics, meaning they are resistant. MRSA is a strain of Staph bacteria that is resistant to methicillin and certain first-line antibiotics called beta-lactams. Infections with drug-resistant strains, like MRSA, can be particularly difficult to treat.

The study was based on interviews and nose swabs that were collected and analyzed from individuals who worked at two different types of livestock operations in North Carolina. At industrial livestock operations, animals are grown in large confinement buildings using antibiotics.

At antibiotic-free livestock operations, animals are grown without the use of antibiotics, typically outdoors on pasture. Researchers tested the S. aureus isolated from nose swabs for resistance to a range of antibiotics and for genetic markers considered to indicate that the bacteria may have come from livestock.

"This study shows that these livestock-associated strains are present among workers at industrial livestock operations and that these strains are resistant not just to methicillin, but to multiple antibiotics - including antibiotics that are used to treat human infections," said Christopher Heaney, PhD, corresponding author of the study and assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Workers were not experiencing Staph infections at the time of the study, but when antibiotic resistant bacteria do cause infections, they can be harder to treat. Researchers found that S. aureus that were multidrug-resistant were roughly twice as prevalent among individuals exposed to the industrial compared to the antibiotic-free livestock operation environment and S. aureus that were resistant to tetracycline - an antibiotic that has been used in industrial livestock production since the 1950's - were 19 times as prevalent among industrial compared to antibiotic-free livestock operation workers.

"Livestock-associated methicillin and multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus is present among industrial, not antibiotic-free livestock operation workers in North Carolina" was written by Jessica L. Rinsky, Maya Nadimpalli, Steve Wing, Devon Hall, Dothula Baron, Lance B. Price, Jesper Larsen, Marc Stegger, Jill Stewart and Christopher D. Heaney.

.


Related Links
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Get Our Free Newsletters
Space - Defense - Environment - Energy - Solar - Nuclear

...





FARM NEWS
China probes baby formula makers over prices: media
Shanghai (AFP) July 02, 2013
China has launched an investigation into alleged price-fixing by several mainly foreign baby formula makers, state media said Tuesday, with one of the targeted companies confirming the probe. China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), had launched the "anti-monopoly" inquiry, the People's Daily newspaper said. The probe appears to mainly target ... read more


FARM NEWS
Long-lived oceanography satellite decommissioned after equipment fails

Images From New Space Station Camera Help U.S. Neighbor to the North

Astrium's Cloud Services will support Western Australia Lands Department

Five Years of Stereo Imaging for NASA's TWINS

FARM NEWS
India launches satellite for new navigation system

Beidou's second trial held in Yangtze Delta

The next batch of Galileo satellites

Raytheon's latest air traffic management systems go into continuous operation

FARM NEWS
British activist says barred from Malaysian state

US nun's killer placed under Brazil house arrest

Climate change threatens forest survival on drier, low-elevation sites

Bioeconomy as a solution for the declining forest industry of South Australia

FARM NEWS
Coal emissions to produce biofuel in Australian plant

WELTEC Biomethane Plant in Arneburg Feeds in Gas

High-octane bacteria could ease pain at the pump

Novel Enzyme from Tiny Gribble Could Prove a Boon for Biofuels Research

FARM NEWS
Panasonic closes Hungary solar plant, cuts 550 jobs

German solar company Conergy files for insolvency

Thinner And Lighter PV From MIT

Sungrow After Its Share Of The US Inverter Market

FARM NEWS
O2 sells third wind farm to IKEA

Mafia turning to wind farms to launder money

Next step on King Island wind power project welcomed

Chile expands wind power resources

FARM NEWS
Report: Alpha Australian coal project is 'stranded'

Germany's top court hears case against giant coal mine

Glencore Xstrata cancels coal export terminal plans

Proposed U.S. Northwest coal export project scrapped

FARM NEWS
China driver held after bumper payout from 334 crashes

US releases photos of ambassador's Tibet visit

Taiwan urged to keep radio broadcasts into China

China law 'forcing' children to visit parents ridiculed




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement