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Dialogue
Is the rising incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) linked to animal agriculture? |
MRSA, the dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacterium that thrives in hospitals and causes a range of problems including skin and soft tissue infections, is now appearing in healthy schoolchildren and other individuals with no known association with hospitals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA was responsible for almost 19,000 U.S. deaths in 2005—more than AIDS, emphysema, and homicide combined. Recent evidence from Europe indicates that new strains of “community-acquired” MRSA (i.e., those acquired outside hospitals) could be attributable in part to livestock operations.
Studies in the Netherlands, for example, have discovered one such strain in swine operations that use antibiotics important to human medicine such as penicillin or tetracycline. UCS research has found that the majority of antibiotics produced in the United States are used in large CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) to accelerate growth and prevent disease caused by the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. This overuse of antibiotics for nontherapeutic purposes is making human illnesses more difficult to treat.
It is unclear whether MRSA is a concern in U.S. agriculture because the federal government has not yet tested domestic livestock for the bacteria; UCS has urged the government to conduct such studies as soon as possible. We are also working with policy makers to pass legislation phasing out the use of medically important antibiotics in animal agriculture, which could reduce the incidence of community-acquired MRSA and other serious human diseases.
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