Superbug found in CANADIAN pork products

19.mar.08
The Canadian Press
Helen Branswell

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Canadian researchers have, according to this story, 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.
Lead researcher Dr. Scott Weese of the University of Guelph was cited as telling the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta Wednesday that 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.
Weese was further cited as saying the bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, 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.
"If they do what they're supposed to do in terms of meat handling, then it should be perfectly safe. But do people do that is the question?"
The story says that the startling rise in so-called community acquired MRSA infections in the United States - a trend which is now being seen in parts of Canada - has led scientists to look for ways to explain the changing pattern of infections.
But Weese said it is too soon to conclude that MRSA in meat might be playing a role. "It's way too early to say that it does. But we have to look at whether it does."
"Basically my take-home message is I'm not going to stop eating pork because of this. I'm going to keep washing my hands and pay attention to how I handle it. And that's all I think I need to do."