Industrial farm workers carry drug-resistant bacteria from livestock
A recent study found drug-resistant bacteria associated with livestock in the noses of industrial livestock workers in North Carolina but not in the noses of antibiotic-free livestock workers.
Published July 2 in Public Library of Science One, the study found drug-resistant staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph. While everyone in the study had direct or indirect contact with livestock, only industrial workers carried antibiotic-resistant staph with multiple genetic characteristics linked to livestock.
The study confirms earlier findings that also raised concern about antibiotics used in livestock production.
“This study shows that these livestock-associated strains are present among workers at industrial livestock operations and that these strains are resistant not just to methicillin, but to multiple antibiotics, including antibiotics that are used to treat human infections,” said study author Christopher Heaney, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Central America nations commit to ending malaria
In June, 10 countries in Central America and the Caribbean joined the fight to eliminate malaria by 2020.
With support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic joined a regional initiative to end the vector-borne disease. The fund has set aside $10 million for the regional effort.
Since 2000, malaria cases have declined dramatically throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
For more information, visit www.theglobalfund.org.
APHA celebrates court decision
APHA celebrated the anniversary of the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act by reminding the health community of the importance of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
In a statement released June 27, APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, noted that the prevention fund is at the heart of the health reform and demonstrates an investment in prevention that is critical in the U.S. where seven in 10 deaths are the result of preventable disease.
He noted that the fund has already spearheaded programs that have been shown to work, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tips from Former Smokers campaign, which prompted 200,000 calls to the national smoking quitline in the first weeks alone.
“The Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision a year ago, but the health of our nation rests in our hands,” Benjamin said. “It’s imperative that we work to fully implement the law and protect its funding and programs to the fullest.”
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
