Slashdot Mirror
Farmers Carry Multidrug-Resistant Staph For Weeks Into Local Communities
An anonymous reader writes: Fresh research out of the UNC Gillings and JHU Bloomberg schools of public health shows industrial farm workers are carrying livestock-associated, multidrug-resistant staph into local communities for weeks at a time. "Among the [22 people tested], 10 workers carried antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria in their noses for up to four days. Another six workers were intermittent carriers of the bacteria. The 10 workers found to carry the bacteria persistently had strains associated with livestock that were resistant to multiple drugs, and one also carried MRSA. Three more of the workers tested positive for strains of S. aureus that were not resistant to antibiotics. So in total, 86 percent of the workers in the study carried the S. aureus bacteria, compared with about one-third of the population at large, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." This problem has grown since its last mention on Slashdot. Unfortunately, massive industrial lobbying continues to neuter government action.
The widespread use of antibiotics for every little thing has largely been eliminated in the medical community. The problem these days is farmers overusing them on animals. And by overuse I mean "routinely give whether it is necessary or not." THIS is what is producing antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, and THIS is what will create the next pandemic.
Ah blame the migrant. Neat trick you did there. Almost all livestock in the US are fed low dose antiboitics throughout their life. This isn't to keep them healthy, it's to provide weight gain.
Almost every chunk of meat you buy in the US contains antibiotics unless you intentionally exclude all but carefully labeled meat products. Animals being fed antibiotics excrete those antibiotics into the environment through their urine, feces and even through their skin. Being under constant exposure to environmental antibiotics through contact with waste products, the animals themselves and their feed which contains the antibiotics is no doubt going to lead to evolution of resistance in the bacteria inhabiting your body.
Lets play the game of most likely answer, that the migrants are taking over the counter antibiotics while they are outside the US when many never leave the US for any extended period. OR, that exposure to the environmental antibiotics used in animal production is what's causing it. If you think the most probable answer is the first as you suggested I can't help you.