New Super Bacteria Strain Found in Milk

Scientists in England find a new strain of "super bacteria" MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in cow milk samples. The new strains of germs have infected humans, although believed to be the experts would not be a serious threat. As published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, clusters of new strains of MRSA bacteria are found in human and cow's milk that has not been pasteurized in England, Scotland and Denmark.


These findings assessed the researchers as "worrying". However, germs are resistant to several antibiotics is estimated will not cause infection by entry into the food chain through milk. This new strain of MRSA germs found by Mark Holmes and his team from Cambridge University in England, while researching the bacteria S. aureus, causes the disease bovine mastitis in cattle.



MRSA bacteria are estimated to kill 19,000 people each year in the United States, and the same number in Europe. Irrational use of antibiotics in recent decades has sparked increased drug-resistant bacterial infections such as MRSA and C-difficile. Last year, scientists warned of the presence of super bacteria from India named New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) which quickly spread throughout the world.


Meanwhile, on Thursday (02/06/2011) yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that E. coli bacteria that caused outbreaks in Germany is a highly toxic new strain.


Although it is not certain how to spread and nature of ferocity, the experts in Britain and the United States believe that the strain of MRSA is not a serious threat.


"This is not something that should make anyone nervous, unless you are a breeder in England. There is nothing that indicates that the germ is very dangerous and will be spread wide and took over an existing MRSA," said Dr. Gregory Moran, a professor of clinical medicine from the UCLA School of Medicine


"From a food safety standpoint, we believe the findings of MRSA in this dairy did not indicate a risk of any disease," Holmes said in the statement about the findings.


Laura Garcia-Alvarez, a member of the research team, also confirmed that heating the milk cows to prevent the risk of transmission through the food chain thing that interests these researchers are finding raises the question whether the cow barn can be a new strain of MRSA germs. "Although there is clear evidence that dairy cows can be shed infection, is still not known for certain whether the cattle transmit the disease to humans, or humans who transmit the disease to cattle. This is one of the many conditions that will further our study," he said. Scientists at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), England, who was also involved in the study said, although a new strain of MRSA was not detected by standard screening, the bacteria is not a serious threat. Recent investigations currently undertaken in the UK and Europe have proven able to detect it. "It's important to remember that MRSA is still treatable with some antibiotics and the risk of infection by new strains was very low," said Angela Kearns, head of the HPA laboratory Staphyloccocus
Source: CNN, Reuters