MRSA

I've been reading lately about MRSA being in our food system.  Do you remember MRSA?  There was  lot of buzz about it a few years back.  Is that staph infection that they found so prevalent in hospitals.  It's a bacteria that has become resistant to anti-biotics.  It was pretty scary stuff when they were putting it on every news show from here to Texas.  It almost gave me a feeling of dread.  But, then, we stopped hearing about it and I forgot about it.

A book has been released on the subject and as the author was interviewed she indicated that MRSA has been released now into the "community" (meaning a place other than a medical facility) and our food system.  I wasn't exactly shocked that it had escaped, but as usual I marvel that the public media hasn't been reporting on it.  What was once a hot topic is now old news.  We're much better off hearing about Sandra Bullocks marriage woes or how national health care is being signed into law.  Funny...we focus on getting insurance and not on getting healthy.  But I digress.

Anyway, I did some digging to find out just how this has entered our food system.  The conclusions should have been obvious.  It's being found in livestock.  And how, you ask, were livestock exposed to this?  I'm not sure they were (my opinion).  Maybe they developed it for themselves (with a little help from humans).

What we know is that livestock, being raised on a typical factory farm, are given low doses of anti-biotics regularly.  In an environment where animals are kept standing in their own feces, fed things we'd never let our mouths touch, and living in amongst dead cage mates, it's clear to see why anti-biotics would be necessary.  How else would they survive?  And in this veritable paradise of filth, the staph would find a living situation perfectly suited to its liking.  Now, combine the anti-biotics and the staph and what do you get?  MRSA....for animals. 

Alarming as this is, I found very little evidence of MRSA in U.S. publications.  It seems that the U.S. is not tracking MRSA as part of its statistics.  However, a Dutch study from 2007 (as reported here by our government website) found that out of the 31 farms tested for MRSA, 11% of the livestock did indeed host the disease.  On our own soil, a study published in Veterinary Microbiology, also in 2007, showed a prevalence of MRSA in U.S. pig farms. 

The pro anti-biotic website, KeepAntibioticsWorking.com, indicates that what we need is stricter government oversight of farming operations to ensure they eliminate the infection.  They suggest that we should look at a separate batch of anti-biotics rated for livestock to prevent the same strains of staph from cross-contaminating humans and livestock.

But wait....

Well, I'm no scientist as Mr. Hammar, my high school science teacher, can attest to, but doesn't it seem like if we give animals a different anti-biotic that they'd simply inherit a different type of MRSA?  And if that were introduced into our food system, would we not simply create two separate things our body needs to fight against?

Is there any other way?

Why don't we demand that livestock be treated humanely and in conditions best suited for their species?  As much as possible, we need to focus on real food that is grown locally.  We should be visiting farms and farmers to see what their practices are.  Those farmers who use practices you approve of, patronize them!  Let them know you appreciate them.  One guy, after hearing my diatribe of food atrocities perpetrated on the American public said "What can I do then?"  I said simply "Hire me...or people like me.  People who want to make a difference.  People who genuinely want to raise clean and healthy livestock or produce.  Hire us and we'll get the job done."