Recent peer-reviewed research found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in pork samples collected from retail stores at a higher rate than previously specified, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). Conducted by researchers from the University of Iowa College of Public Health and IATP, the study, titled MRSA in conventional and alternative retail pork products, represents the largest sampling of raw meat products for MRSA contamination to date in the US.
Altogether, 395 samples were collected from a total of 36 stores in Iowa, Minnesota and New Jersey. Among these samples, S. aureus was isolated from 256 samples (64.8 percent), and of those, 26 pork samples were found to contain MRSA. S. aureus is a bacterium that can cause serious human infections of the bloodstream, skin, lungs (pneumonia) and other organs.