New strain of MRSA spreads to humans, study reveals

An international study has revealed that a new strain of the deadly MRSA bacteria has made the leap from food animals to humans.

Scientists from 20 institutions have conducted a research project focusing on the MRSA CC398 strain, known as pig MRSA or livestock-associated MRSA due to its prevalence among farm workers.

Whole genome sequencing has shown that it was most likely an antibiotic-susceptible strain in humans in the past before transferring to food animals, where it became resistant to tetracycline and methicillin due to routine antibiotic use among animals to prevent staph infections.

This excessive application of antibiotics has caused the disease to rapidly evolve and spread back to humans.

Lance Price, a faculty member at Northern Arizona University and the study's lead author, said: "Staph thrives in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Add antibiotics to that environment and you're going to create a public health problem."

Earlier this month, a University of Copenhagen study discovered a substance in a Chilean rainforest plant that could aid efforts to combat drug-resistant bacteria.