Friday, March 13, 2009
Restaurants Another food hazard
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 2:49 AM
As if we don't have enough to worry about, it appears that pork may be a significant transmitter of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), according to a column yesterday by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times.
Many authorities are blaming the overuse of antibiotics in feed lots for the apparent epidemic of this particular strain of MRSA. Kristof is characteristically cautious in his description of the problem, but the fact is that this has been on the public health radar for some time. It's been much more aggressively studied in Europe, particularly by the Dutch.
MRSA is a grotesque "flesh-eating" infection that is also epidemic in American hospitals. (Indeed, last I heard, one of our local, suburban hospitals is among the worst in the country for MRSA infection.) I've had two friends come close to death after being infected in the hospital.
When I was in the hospital three years ago -- not the hospital mentioned above -- I was given a flier about MRSA that said I should not let any hospital staff touch me without washing their hands first. It was my responsibility to insist that nurses wash their hands! Let's see. I was in constant pain, attached to a morphine pump, so f*ucked-up I thought the plastic urine bottle in my bed was my cat. And I was supposed to tell the nurse to wash her hands?
I'm not sure what the stats are these days, but infection in hospitals was quite curtailed in the European Union by adoption of safety standards. As of a few years ago, the American Hospital Association dismissed support of these same precautions because they would be too expensive.
Let's see if the new administration will take more aggressive action than the last one in developing standards for feed lots. I'm not optimistic. Kristof will continue his investigation in his Sunday column.
Comments (2)
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Here is a link to an article that talks about food-bourne illness that I think you should take a look at: http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=X703BSE6NIQ2&preview=article&linkid=6eeaa181-0082-45f5-b62b-06cea6a297fa&pdaffid=ZVFwBG5jk4Kvl9OaBJc5%2bg%3d%3d Sincerely, MediaMentioins
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I've been living with this problem for almost a decade and have a massive record of the emergence of this strain in pigs. It is pretty clear that a pattern is emerging and a frantic attempt is being made by pig and government veterinarians both sides of the Atlantic to spin MRSA and similar diseases in pigs. Clear evidence of collusion on spin is emerging between British, Canadian and the United States civil servants and scientists dating back some years. The main elements of the cover up are clear. 1. That there is little or no risk to human health. 2. That the Dutch research linking sick pigs to sick humans is unreliable. 3. That the discovery of MRSA on US farms is too small a sample to be significant. 4. That the source of MRSA in pigs (and pets) is infection from human carriers. 5. That MRSA in pets is more significant risk to humans than MRSA in pigs. Emails between those involved in plotting disinformation are leaking in the United States and Defra has managed to publish minutes that include exchanges by video link with prominent scientists in North America on the subject. Fascinatingly, the names of the British participants have been removed, but those they were seeking to influence or pressure in North America are clearly stated. Britain's government vets are good at framing those they claim to be helping. They even fear that the results of testing the pigs for MRSA might be misinterpreted. I don't think anyone in the English speaking world is going to misinterpret anything, do you? -- Regards Pat Gardiner Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now! www.go-self-sufficient.com and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/
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