The Staph says "Oink"

                Most of us all know that MRSA is an antibiotic-resistant Staph. infection. Specifically, MRSA is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but the bacteria are resistant to most methicillin related antibiotics (like penicillin) as well. Researchers have now linked the community-acquired infection with yet another source: pig manure.

                First of all, MRSA has a couple of known sources as it is. Not only is MRSA acquired from extended hospital stays and surgery mixed with poor hygiene, but MRSA has also had a second rising in school-age and daycare attending children. The use of antibiotics for any-and-every-thing that pediatric doctors see has led to this rising of the antibiotic resistant staph. Recent studies have shown that MRSA may also rise from high production pig farms. Crop fields near these farms use the manure from the pigs to fertilize the crops. This has led to an increase in the MRSA infections within the surrounding communities. Scientists attribute this to the high antibiotic intake of the pigs. Because these pigs are used for their meat, the feed that they eat contains a high level of antibiotics, which is then shed when the pigs do their business.

                Studies which were performed based on skin and soft tissue infections, likely from contact with the crops or contact with the soil from these crop fields, showed that there was a significant association of MRSA and the application of the manure to nearby crop fields. Another association between MRSA and the operations that took place on the pig farms was found but it was weaker in association. Lastly, there was no association found between nearby dairy farm operations or applications and the MRSA infections. Moral of the story: if you want to live near a farm, (A) make sure they don’t use pig manure as their fertilizer if they have crop fields and (B) choose to live nears cows instead of pigs.