Study Finds MRSA in U.S. Swine and Farm Workers
Researchers led by Dr. Tara C. Smith, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, have reported finding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in pigs and farm workers in the United States.
The investigators found a strain of MRSA, known as ST398 in swine production, in swine production system in the Midwest, according to the new study.
“Our results show that colonization of swine by MRSA was very common in one of two corporate production systems we studied,” said Smith. Because ST398 was found in both animals and humans, it suggests transmission between the two.