Medscape... CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hog farmers are six times more likely than the general population to carry an infectious bacteria that can cause skin and respiratory problems and resists treatment from multiple drugs, according to a new U.S. research study.
The study, published April 29 online in Clinical Infectious Diseases, is the largest-ever examination of infections of Staphylococcus aureus in a group of livestock workers. It comes amid rising concern that widespread antibiotic use in meat production could create risks to human health.
The study tracked more than 1,300 Iowa residents, including workers on hog farms, for 17 months starting in May 2011.
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% of the participants exposed to hogs were carrying multi-drug resistant staph bacteria, compared to 3% in the unexposed group. Some 34% of the participants exposed to hogs carried a strain resistant to tetracycline, a human antibiotic also used in meat production, compared to 4% in the unexposed group, the report said.
People carrying staph bacteria do not automatically become sick.
"These people, farmers included, were getting staph infections and they were being caused by these livestock-associated strains" of bacteria, said Tara Smith, an author of the report and associate professor at Kent State University in Ohio.
The prevalence of methicillin-resistant staph aureus was "unexpectedly" similar between the exposed and unexposed groups, according to the study.
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.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1OMWPHJ
Clin Infect Dis 2015.