Superbug found in Canadian pork products

uperbug found in Canadian pork products
March 19, 2008
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Helen Branswell
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canadian researchers have found antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria in pork products purchased in retail stores across the country – a discovery that raises questions about how the contamination occurred, how frequently it happens and whether it has implications for human health.

Just under 10 per cent of sampled pork chops and ground pork recently purchased in four provinces tested positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, lead researcher Dr. Scott Weese reported Wednesday in a presentation to the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

The bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, said Weese, an expert on zoonoses, the pathogens that pass back and forth between people and animals.

But he wondered whether people handling meat with MRSA on its surface would end up inadvertently "colonizing" themselves. People who carry the bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils are at greater risk of going on to develop a Staph infection, which can range from a hard-to-heal boil to pneumonia to a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/347865

I'm not at all surprised at this article. Community Associated MRSA is growing to be a huge problem in North America. Outbreaks have been noted in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Here is a link to a good article from the Canadian Medical Association Journal from 2007 explaining some of the basics of CA-MRSA.
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/176/1/54