MRSA Strain That Eludes Traditional Tests Found in Cow’s Milk, Study Finds

MRSA germ - Wikimedia image

Kristen Hallam
Bloomberg

British scientists have discovered a new strain of the drug-resistant germ known as MRSA in cow’s milk and some evidence that the animals could be a source of the infection in humans.

University of Cambridge researchers were led to the discovery while studying an infection of the animals’ udders, according to an article published today in the U.K journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Tests showed that people in Scotland, England and Denmark carried the new variant of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and that the bacteria can elude the usual means of detection.

Tests that search for the mecA gene, which enables the bacteria to resist treatment with some antibiotics, can miss the new, genetically different strain, researchers said. Relying solely on gene testing can lead doctors to prescribe medicines that are powerless against MRSA, the researchers said.

“It’s important that any of the MRSA testing that is based on detection of the mecA gene be upgraded to ensure that the tests detect the new gene found in the new MRSA,” said Mark Holmes, the lead researcher, in a statement.

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Food inspection is often flawed

Lena H. Sun
Washington Post 

The voluntary quality control system widely used in the nation's $1 trillion domestic food industry is rife with conflicts of interest, inexperienced auditors and cursory inspections that produce inflated ratings, according to food retail executives and other industry experts.

Recent outbreaks of salmonella illness tied to contaminated eggs and peanutshave focused new attention on weaknesses in the decades-old system, which relies on private-sector auditorshired by foodmakers.

With food-borne illness and recalls rising, the use of private inspectors has grown rapidly in the past decade as companies try to protect themselves from lawsuits and tainted products that can damage their brand names. But experts agree that the inspections often do not translate into safer products for consumers.

"It's a business strategy, not a public-health strategy," said David Acheson, former assistant commissioner for food protection at the Food and Drug Administration under President George W. Bush.

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