15.04.2011

A nationwide study: Clinical Infectious Diseases April 15, 2011

This study characterized the prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility profiles, and genotypes of Staphylococcus aureus among US meat and poultry samples (n=5,136). S. aureus contaminated 47% of samples, and multidrug resistance was common among isolates (52%). S. aureus genotypes and resistance profiles differed significantly among sample types, suggesting food animal–specific contamination.
Staphylococcus aureus is among the most prevalent causes of clinical infections globally and has garnered substantial public attention due to increasing mortality associated with multidrug resistance. A new multidrug-resistant S. aureus strain, ST398, has emerged that predominantly colonizes people working in food animal production. First discovered in 2003, ST398 now makes up a substantial proportion of the community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) cases in the Netherlands. Multiple studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of multidrug-resistant S. aureus, including ST398, among intensively raised swine in the European Union, Canada, and the United States.
In the current study, the researchers evaluated the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of S. aureus in retail meat and poultry samples from 5 US cities. They found that S. aureus contamination was common among the samples and that distinct S. aureus populations were associated with each meat and poultry type. The researchers further demonstrated the prevalence of multidrug resistance, including resistance to clinically important antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, clindamycin, erythromycin, oxacillin, and daptomycin.
This data demonstrate that retail meat and poultry are frequently contaminated with multidrug-resistant S. aureus, but the public health relevance of this finding is unclear.