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 The study, published this week in the online journal Clinical
Infectious Diseases, is the largest-ever examination of infections
of Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, in a group of livestock workers.
It comes amid rising concern that widespread antibiotic use in meat
production could create risks to human health.
Staph is a leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections in
humans. Most infections are not life threatening, but the bacteria
can lead to pneumonia and turn deadly if they infect the
bloodstream, bones and joints, or lungs.
Health experts are concerned that routine use of antibiotics in meat
production could be spurring the growth of antibiotic-resistant
"superbugs" capable of creating a human health hazard.
The study tracked more than 1,300 Iowa residents, including workers
on hog farms, for 18 months starting in May 2011, said Tara Smith,
an author of the report and associate professor at Kent State
University in Ohio.
Researchers said information was not available about whether the
hogs were fed antibiotics. They did not take samples from the
animals.
They found that 20 percent of the participants exposed to hogs were
carrying multi-drug resistant staph bacteria, compared to 3 percent
in the unexposed group. Some 34 percent of the participants exposed
to hogs carried a strain resistant to tetracycline, a human
antibiotic also used in meat production, compared to 4 percent in
the unexposed group, the report said.
People carrying staph bacteria do not automatically become sick.
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"These people, farmers included, were getting staph infections and
they were being caused by these livestock-associated strains" of
bacteria, Smith told Reuters.
The prevalence of staph bacteria resistant to the antibiotic
methicillin, known as MRSA, was "unexpectedly" similar between the
exposed and unexposed groups, according to the study. MRSA is
resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph
infections.
The National Pork Producers Council, an industry group, said other
studies show hog farming does not create an increased risk for staph
infections.
Tyson Foods Inc, the largest U.S. poultry producer, this week said
it plans to stop treating its chicken flocks with human antibiotics
and is working to curb on-farm drug use in other meat businesses,
including pork.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by David Gregorio)
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