01.12.2012

The Dutch food-safety authority found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), on 8 percent of broiler farms in a survey.

The bacteria was found in chicks and stable dust, the authority wrote in a report on its website. Infected animals can sometimes transmit the resistant bacteria to humans, according to the authority.

A strain of MRSA known as CC398 has been reported in livestock, most often in intensively raised pigs, veal calves and chickens, according to the European Food Safety Authority. People in contact with live animals are at greater risk of acquiring the strain, though infections are rare.
On broiler farms, 9 percent of breeders carried the bacteria, while for employees in slaughterhouses the rate can climb to 14 percent, according to the report.

The MRSA infection rate in slaughterhouses that gas broilers before slaughtering is four times smaller than in those using electric stunning in water baths. Gassed broilers move less, meaning fewer dust particles are released, reducing infection odds.