Study: MRSA found in U.S. retail meat

DETROIT, May 12 (UPI) -- Some beef, chicken and turkey sold in Michigan grocery stores contained the human type of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, researchers say.

Wayne State University researchers collected 289 raw meat samples -- 156 beef, 76 chicken, and 57 turkey -- from 30 grocery stores in Detroit from August 2009 to January 2010.

Up to three presumptive Staphylococcus aureus colonies -- the most common cause of staph infections frequently found in the nose and on skin on humans -- per sample were identified by testing.

The study, scheduled to be published in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, found 22.5 percent of the samples yielded S. aureus: 20.5 percent in beef, 25 percent in chicken and 24.6 percent in turkey.

Six samples -- two in beef, three in chicken and one in turkey -- were positive for MRSA, the study said.

The retail beef, chicken and turkey examined in Michigan contained the human type of MRSA -- not the animal type more commonly found in Europe -- indicating U.S. meat contamination may come from human meat handlers, not the animals themselves, the study said.

"Cooking kills MRSA," Yifan Zhang, assistant professor at Wayne State, told United Press International. "The precautions regarding MRSA infection through food exposure would be to wear gloves when handling meat if you have wounds on your hands -- this can also be a source of MRSA to contaminate the meat product you are handling -- cook meat thoroughly, and avoid temperature abuse by keeping hot food hot and cold food cold to prevent bacteria growth and toxin release."