Antibiotic-resistant Strains of Staph Bacteria May Be Spreading Between Pigs Raised on Industrial Farms

Members of ARAC's research team were co-authors of a new study "Transmission of Antimicrobial-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clonal Complex 9 between Pigs and Humans" published in March 2021. In the study, researchers sequenced the DNA of bacteria found in pigs and people in rural eastern North Carolina, an area with concentrated industrial-scale pig-farming. Their findings suggest that multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains are spreading between pigs, farmworkers, their families and community residents, and represents an emerging public health threat. Read the press release. Read the study.