A new study just came out in the Emerging Infectious Disease Journal claiming that people who live in areas where there is a large number of livestock farms are at higher risk for carrying a form of MRSA. MRSA is a staph germ that is difficult to cure, and can be fatal if not treated.
This is a livestock-associated infection, LA-MRSA, so unless you work with pigs and cows, you don't have too much to worry about. Although, the NY Times article "Proximity to Livestock Raises a MRSA Risk," says that this virus can affect people even who do not have direct contact with animals... Still, this case study was only completed in the Netherlands and did not specify whether this was also true for grass-fed livestock, so further studies should be done before livestock farmers freak out. Future studies could also investigate the relationship between intensive livestock operations in the US and LA-MRSA. After all, intensive livestock farming operations in the Netherlands pale in comparison to level of intensive American ones.
This is a livestock-associated infection, LA-MRSA, so unless you work with pigs and cows, you don't have too much to worry about. Although, the NY Times article "Proximity to Livestock Raises a MRSA Risk," says that this virus can affect people even who do not have direct contact with animals... Still, this case study was only completed in the Netherlands and did not specify whether this was also true for grass-fed livestock, so further studies should be done before livestock farmers freak out. Future studies could also investigate the relationship between intensive livestock operations in the US and LA-MRSA. After all, intensive livestock farming operations in the Netherlands pale in comparison to level of intensive American ones.
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