Category Archives: MRSA

Research – MRSA Treatment

Posted on November 18, 2013 by | Leave a comment

News NortheasternStaphylococcus

Recent work from Uni­ver­sity Dis­tin­guished Pro­fessor of Biology Kim Lewis promises to over­come one of the leading public health threats of our time. In a ground­breaking study pub­lished Wednesday in the journal Nature, Lewis’ team presents a novel approach to treat and elim­i­nate methi­cillin resis­tant staphy­lo­coccus aureus, or MRSA, a potent bac­terium whose resis­tance to antibi­otics has kept it one step ahead of researchers. That is, until now.

Bac­teria such as MRSA have evolved to actively resist cer­tain antibi­otics, a fact that has gen­er­ated sig­nif­i­cant interest among the sci­en­tific and med­ical com­mu­ni­ties. But Lewis, Director of Northeastern’s Antimi­cro­bial Dis­covery Center, sus­pected that a dif­ferent adap­tive func­tion of bac­teria might be the true cul­prit in making these infec­tions so devastating. –

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hand Washing, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Research, Staphylococcus aureus

Research – Livestock to Human Transmission of MRSA Confirmed

Posted on March 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety NewsStaphylococcus

Using whole genome sequencing, scientists have found conclusive evidence that a type of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that caused human infections in Denmark came from livestock – adding to concerns that food animals are a significant MRSA reservoir for human infections.

While previous research has suggested that MRSA transfers from animals to humans, including a U.S. study last year that looked at “pig-MRSA,” the study published this week in EMBO Molecular Medicine provides the strongest evidence to date that this phenomenon is occurring and provides fodder to those advocating for greater limits on antibiotics in agriculture.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Research, Staphylococcus aureus, Toxin

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UK Research – MRSA in British Cattle

Posted on January 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Global Meat News

Food and farming charity The Soil Association has called on the British government to investigate the bacteria MRSA in UK farm animals, as well as the claimed overuse of antibiotics in farming.

 

 

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Safety, Food Testing, Methods, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Research, Staphylococcus aureus

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Bad Bug New Release

Posted on April 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FDA

This book is a great source of Microbiology Information and can be downloaded as a 264 page PDF.

The second edition of the Bad Bug Book3, published by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides current information about the major known agents that cause foodborne illness. The information provided in this handbook is abbreviated and general in nature, and is intended for practical use. It is not intended to be a comprehensive scientific or clinical reference. Each chapter in this book is about a pathogen – a bacterium, virus, or parasite – or a natural toxin that can contaminate food and cause illness. The book contains scientific and technical information about the major pathogens that cause these kinds of illnesses. A separate “consumer box” in each chapter provides non-technical information, in everyday language. The boxes describe plainly what can make you sick and, more important, how to prevent it.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, Cryptosporidium, E.coli, E.coli O104, E.coli O157, E.coli O26, EHEC, Enterobacteriaceae, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Legionella, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, STEC

Easter Food Safety Risks

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Firstly Happy Easter to everyone and I hope that all of you have a good break with the family.

I came across this Easter safety poster through BITES

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
– Hand washing after handling animals, even cute ones, reduces risk of illness.  Children can get sick by touching birds and then putting their hands directly in their mouths or touching food.
– Eggs can carry Salmonella and need to be cooked to 145°F for 15 seconds to reduce risk, or until the yolk sets.
– Raw shell eggs should be stored in the refrigerator held at  or below 45°F.
– Use pasteurized eggs as a replacement in raw egg dishes to reduce risks.

Poster

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, MRSA, Pathogen, Salmonella

MRSA – Source From Antibiotic Treated Livestock

Posted on February 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

mBioSPhere

A strain of MRSA that humans can contract from livestock most likely became drug resistant due to the use of antibiotics on the farm. That’s according to the authors of a study in mBio this week, who looked closely at the genetic relationships among strains of the antibiotic resistant bacterium MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). They discovered that ST398, a type of MRSA found in livestock that can also be passed to humans was originally a human strain, and it developed resistance to antibiotics once it was picked up by farm animals. The finding illustrates a very close link between antibiotic use on the farm and potentially lethal human infections.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA – Retail Pork – Higher Levels Than Expected

Posted on February 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be more prevalent in retail pork products than previously thought, according to a study published in the Public Library of Science’s PLoS ONE in January.

More than six percent of 395 pork samples, taken from 36 grocery stores in Iowa, Minnesota, and New Jersey, were contaminated with MRSA, which is significantly higher than previous studies. More than 64 percent of samples tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus, or staph bacteria. The results also did not show a significant difference in MRSA contamination between conventional meats and alternative, or antibiotic-free meats.

Study Link

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Testing, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus

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New Form of MRSA – From India – ca-MRSA

Posted on February 1, 2012 by | 1 comment

Although not foodborne in this instance, with US studies linking MRSA to foodborne illness and other world studies linking MRSA to retail meats the article in Lab Saints is quite interesting.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (ca-MRSA) bacterium that is resistant to almost all common antibiotics.

In India, where poor hygiene and the availability of over-the-counter antibiotics lead to development of resistance, an estimated 100 to 200 million people are reportedly already carriers of these virtually unbeatable killer bacteria. The killer bugs have also reached England, presumably through medical tourists who travelled to India for cosmetic surgery, and reportedly already infected several hundred people. A few cases have also turned up in Germany.

The bacterium has become a serious health threat in the United States

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Testing, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA Levels in Pork 7% – US Study

Posted on January 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Science Daily

Retail pork products in the U.S. have a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) than previously identified. This in theory may well apply to retail pork products in the UK and Europe although there is not data to confirm this. The report also states ” the this organism is estimated to cause around 185,000 cases of food poisoning each year. ” I am not aware of figures for the UK and Europe on MRSA causing foodborne illness.

Full Report

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Microbiology, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA Found in US Retail Meat and Turkey – Again

Posted on December 2, 2011 by | Leave a comment

This article from the Wierd Science Blog is quoting two studies that have found MRSA (normally associated with health car facilities) in retail meats in the USA. They are calling the strain ‘livestock associated MRSA’ ST398 and it is also resistant to tetracycline, antibiotic resistance is of course an issue with these strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

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Posted in Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Microbiology, MRSA