Cattle can be a source of MRSA in people, scientists find

A type of MRSA found in humans originated in cattle at least 40 years ago, new research has found

2013-08-14

(Press-News.org) A type of MRSA found in humans originated in cattle at least 40 years ago, new research has found.

The study provides clear evidence that livestock were the original source of an MRSA strain which is now widespread in people.

Researchers studied the genetic make-up of more than 40 strains of a bacterium -- called Staphylococcus aureus -- that can build up antibiotic resistance to develop into MRSA.

At least two genetic subtypes of the bacterium, which have become endemic in people, have been traced back to cattle by the scientists, who are based at The Roslin Institute at The University of Edinburgh.

Researchers say the most likely scenario is that the bug crossed over from cattle to people through direct contact -- perhaps through people working with farm animals.

The research will help scientists find out how the bacteria are able to spread and cause disease in humans and to prevent further strains from jumping from livestock.

After switching to human hosts, the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium became resistant to the antibiotic methicillin and developed into methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-- or MRSA. In addition, the bacteria acquired the ability to avoid attack by the human immune system. However, these bacteria that originated in cattle do not appear to be more aggressive or more resistant to antibiotics than other MRSA affecting humans.

Lead researcher, Professor Ross Fitzgerald, of The Roslin Institute, said: "Human infections caused by bacteria being transmitted directly from livestock are well known to occur. However this is the first clear genetic evidence of subtypes of Staph. aureus which jumped from cattle and developed the capacity to transmit widely among human populations'.

The study is published in the journal mBio.

Laura Spoor, of The Roslin Institute and first author on the research paper, added: "This research provides insight into how some strains of MRSA have evolved and help us better understand how they have adapted to cause disease in different host species."

###

The study is published in the journal mBio.

The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Swan-Riddell Ker Memorial PhD studentship. It involved The Roslin Institute, the University of Cambridge, National Food Institute Denmark, Public Health England and the Statens Serum Institute, Denmark.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A new sense of urgency for energy cane and other energy crops

2013-08-14

"Energy cane" may sound like a trendy sports drink, but it actually is among a new generation of energy crops that could yield up to 5 times more ethanol per acre than corn. They are the topic of the cover story in this week's Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Editor Melody M. Bomgardner explains that energy cane is a new, high-fiber variety of sugarcane now being grown in California's Imperial Valley. Scientists bred it specifically as an "energy crop," a ...

Lymph nodes with location memory

2013-08-14

This news release is available in German. Regulatory T cells (or "Tregs" for short) play a central role in the human immune system: They guide all of the other immune cells and make sure they are tolerant of the body's own cells and harmless foreign substances. How Tregs become Tregs in the first place has been only incompletely understood -- until now. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, along with their colleagues at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have recently gleaned important new insights into the workings ...

Pilot study finds ER patients drinking high-octane beer

2013-08-14

Five beer brands – Budweiser, Steel Reserve, Colt 45, Bud Ice and Bud Light – were consumed in the highest quantities by emergency room patients, according to a new pilot study from researchers at The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Three of these are "malt liquors" with higher alcohol content than regular beer. The pilot study, published by Substance Use and Misuse, is the first study of its kind to assess alcohol consumption by brand and type from patients reporting to the emergency department with ...

A genetic answer to the Alzheimer's riddle?

2013-08-14

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 14, 2013) — What if we could pinpoint a hereditary cause for Alzheimer's, and intervene to reduce the risk of the disease? We may be closer to that goal, thanks to a team at the University of Kentucky. Researchers affiliated with the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have completed new work in Alzheimer's genetics; the research is detailed in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience. Emerging evidence indicates that, much like in the case of high cholesterol, some Alzheimer's disease risk is inherited while the remainder is environmental. ...

Chemophobia shouldn't be on the menu

2013-08-14

When it comes to what's for dinner – or breakfast and lunch for that matter-- many people suffer from chemophobia, an irrational fear of natural and synthetic chemicals that pose no risk to our health, a Dartmouth study finds. Chemistry Professor Gordon Gribble, whose paper appears in the journal Food Security, argues that low doses of chemicals in modern food are inherent, typically harmless and often highly beneficial. He says most people don't know they are routinely exposed to a host of compounds in non-toxic concentrations in what they eat and drink each day. Even ...

Virtual adviser helps older Latino adults get more exercise, Stanford researcher says

2013-08-14

STANFORD, Calif. — When it comes to getting motivated to exercise and do things that are good for our health, sometimes all it takes is a little help from our friends. This was certainly the case for a group of older, Latino adults in Northern California: They benefited from the advice and encouragement of a virtual friend — a physical-activity adviser named Carmen, a new study reports. Individuals who participated in an exercise program guided by the virtual adviser had an eight-fold increase in walking compared with those who did not, according to the study, published ...

Rice U. biophysicists zoom in on pore-forming toxin

2013-08-14

HOUSTON -- (Aug. 14, 2013) -- A new study by Rice University biophysicists offers the most comprehensive picture yet of the molecular-level action of melittin, the principal toxin in bee venom. The research could aid in the development of new drugs that use a similar mechanism as melittin's to attack cancer and bacteria. The study appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Melittin does its damage by penetrating the outer walls of cells and opening pores that allow the contents of the cell to escape. At low concentrations, melittin forms ...

Ethical issues are often not addressed in national clinical practice guidelines for dementia

2013-08-14

Twelve national dementia clinical practice guidelines included only half of 31 ethical issues the authors had identified as important in patient care, finds a study by Daniel Strech, of Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, and colleagues, published in this week's issue of PLOS Medicine. The authors identified current national clinical practice guidelines for dementia care published in English or German. They had previously systematically reviewed ethical issues in dementia care and they used thematic text analysis to assess whether and how the ethical issues were ...

Conflicts of interest common among panel members of guidelines that expand disease definitions

2013-08-14

An assessment of expert members of panels making decisions about definitions or diagnostic criteria for common conditions in the US, which were published in guidelines used by physicians and other healthcare professionals caring for patients, found that most members had ties to industry. The assessment was made in a study from Ray Moynihan of Bond University, Queensland, Australia, and colleagues published in this week's issue of PLOS Medicine. Of the 16 expert panel publications appearing between 2000 and April 2013 that met the authors' criteria of changing disease ...

Cervical cancer screening and treatment are neglected in low- and middle-income countries

2013-08-14

While there have been substantial improvements in mortality rates and an increase in access to reproductive health interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the global health community is neglecting prevention, screening, and treatment for cervical cancer in LMICs. These are the conclusions of a new article in PLOS Medicine this week by Ruby Singhrao and colleagues from the University of California San Francisco, San Francisco. Using a framework including equity and socio-economic, gender, public health, and health services dimensions, the authors propose ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies releases white paper on mentoring programs to strengthen worker autonomy and competitive edge

Researchers pose five guiding questions to improve the use of artificial intelligence in physicians’ clinical decision-making

Artificial intelligence takes the lead in revolutionizing cancer research explored at NFCR’s 2025 Global Summit and Award Ceremonies for Cancer Research and Entrepreneurship.