MRSA
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Scientists discover ancient antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Okay, nobody panic, but scientists have found a stash of bacteria that have never had contact with humans, but are resistant to antibiotics anyway. If this happened in a movie, this would probably end with everyone becoming dead. But I’m sure it’s fine!
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Antibiotics in your meat? The ethanol industry might be partly to blame
Many farmers feed livestock spent grain from the ethanol process in order to lower feed costs. New research confirms what some have long suspected: Those byproducts contain antibiotics from the ethanol distilling process.
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MRSA MRSA me: Getting the facts about the superbug in pork
Confused about the latest science on antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria found in grocery-store pork? So were we, until we spoke to expert Maryn McKenna.
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‘Antibiotic-free’ pork has the same rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
We really do try to Pollan it up and do the whole “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” bit. But “mostly plants” obviously means “sometimes bacon.” And maybe the farmers’ market wasn’t open, so we bought that bacon at the store. Oh, but it was good bacon! “Raised without antibiotics” bacon! That’s something, right? […]
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Don’t look now, but some turkey has antibiotic-resistant superbugs
Not to put a damper on your Thanksgiving or anything, but there are two new studies showing that drug-resistant bugs like MRSA are showing up in farmed meat, including turkey. Farm animals get fed a cocktail of antibiotics, which can create resistant strains of bacteria. It's been hard (though not impossible) to determine whether that's […]
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Nearly half of supermarket meat is tainted, says disgusting new study
Now would be a good time to go vegetarian, or demitarian, or just find a reputable butcher. A new study from the Translational Genomics Research Institute has found that 47 percent of tested samples of supermarket meat and poultry were infected with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which causes a range of health problems including skin infections […]
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Flies and cockroaches carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria from factory farms, study finds
A fly’s paradise: Near a giant hog factory in North Carolina, downed pigs fester while sprayers spread untreated manure onto fields. Photo: Steve WingWhat sort of antibiotic-resistant pathogens are growing on factory farms, along with all the cheap pork chops and chicken wings? And what level of threat do they pose to our health? Well, […]
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FDA takes steps to limit use of antibiotics in livestock
Updated June 30 The FDA took a significant step yesterday toward restricting the routine feeding of subtherapeutic (medically unnecessary) doses of antibiotics to livestock. As Grist has detailed in previous coverage, this practice — which by some estimates consumes nearly 70% of all antibiotics administered in the U.S. — has been linked to the rise […]
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‘Scary Disease Girl’ Maryn McKenna on antibiotic-resistant staph [PODCAST]
“Scary Disease Girl”: Maryn McKennaMaryn McKenna is arguably the premier U.S. public health journalist. Not many on the beat can boast a bio like this: Maryn McKenna’s newsroom nickname is Scary Disease Girl, and she earned it. She has reported from inside a field hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, a village on Thailand’s […]