Staph bacteria contaminated nearly half of U.S. meat samples in a recent analysis, with 96 percent of bacteria showing resistance to at least one type of drug.
The most common bacteria found was Staphylococcus aureus, which showed genetic differences and varying levels of drug resistance based on the type of meat it was found in.
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During the project, scientists studied 136 samples of beef, pork, turkey and chicken from 26 grocery stores in five U.S. cities. After examining the samples in the lab, researchers found staph bacteria contaminated more than three-fourths of turkey meat. Pork and chicken were close behind, each having approximately 40 percent of samples contaminated with staph, and beef with 37 percent of samples with staph.
Strains with resistance to more than three antimicrobials were most common in turkey, followed by pork, beef and chicken, according to the research. In a few samples, the team found Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, which can lead to severe infections, even on the surface of the skin.
But before avoiding your favorite meat dish, consider the fact that most harmful bacteria can be killed by cooking meats at appropriate temperatures.
On the other hand, people can be exposed to drug-resistant staph through the handling of raw or uncooked meats. This may be a problem for workers in the meat processing industry and even consumers who do not wash their hands or prepare raw meat and other food items on the same surfaces.
Although the government inspects U.S. meats for drug-resistant bacteria, staph is not included in testing.
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The authors of the study are unsure of the health impacts of their findings, but think antibiotics given to healthy animals in concentrated animal feeding operations might play a role.
"Antibiotics are the most important drugs that we have to treat staph infections; but when staph are resistant to three, four, five or even nine different antibiotics -- like we saw in this study -- that leaves physicians few options," said Lance Price, one author of the study, in a press release.
The article is featured in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Photo: Getty Images
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