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Drug resistant Staph found in one in four meat samples

04/19/2011 12:15:00 admin
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A new study suggests that 25 percent of meat including beef, chicken, pork and turkey from the US market may be contaminated with multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
 
Staphylococcus aureus in food can produce a heat-resistant toxin that cause an illness with symptoms including vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea 1 to 6 hours after ingestion of a contaminated product.
 
Drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus such as superbug Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or simply MRSA, can cause life-threatening skin infections, pneumonia, endocarditis, and sepsis among other things.
 
For the study published April 15 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Lance B. Price of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Flagstaff, AZ and colleagues analyzed 136 samples covering 80 brands of meats including beef, chicken, pork and turkey collected from 26 retail grocery stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff and Washington, D.C.
 
Forty seven percent of the meat samples were found contaminated with S. aureus and of the tainted meats, 52 percent were resistant at least three classes of antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, clindamycin, erythromycin, oxacillin, and daptomycin. The study was not intended to screen for MRSA.
 
Pathogenic bacteria that are tested often in meat include Campylobacter, Salmonella, Enterococcus, and Escherichia coli. But S. aureus is not tested often even though multidrug resistant S. aureus can cause clinically significant infections, the researchers said in their report.
 
Experts believed drug resistant S. aureus strains got into meat through infected meat handlers who did not practice good hygiene during meat processing. But some others said use of antibiotics in animals can also be the cause.
 
Pathogenic bacteria in meat, such as Staphylococcus aureus, botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacillus cereus, can produce toxins that cause an illness. However, proper cooking, fermentation, cooling, and storage of food can prevent the growth of the pathogen and the production of its toxins.
 
S. aureus can be killed by mild heat, but grow with or without air at body temperature and it can survive in a high salt environment (up to 15% of salt).  The toxin produced by S. aureus, staphylococcal enterotoxin, is resistant to heat, refrigeration and freezing. The toxin cannot be produced in acid foods though.
 
Food consumers need to exercise caution when they handle raw meat. They should avoid using bare hands with injured skin to touch raw meat.  Pathogenic bacteria with drug resistance may pose a risk particularly to those who have had their immunity compromised such as cancer and HIV patients.

David Liu and editing by Denise Reynolds
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