Some MRSA bugs in UK hospitals can be traced back to a type of bacteria found in farm animals, a new study suggests.
A strain of drug-resistant bacteria carried by some livestock – the MRSA strain Staphylococcus aureus CC398 – has also been found in patients, Midlothian-based researchers say.
People and animals generally harbour distinct variants of CC398, which the team say evolved from the same original bacteria.
However, the CC398 strain found in livestock can be transmitted to humans, and the study provides new evidence that the livestock-associated CC398 strain could spread in hospitals.
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