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October 17, 2011

MRSA Superbug: The Next Epidemic?

Robin Lloyd, Scientific American


CDC

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona—A relatively new type of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus could represent the world’s next bacterial epidemic, an environmental health expert said here today at a conference for science writers.

The superbug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain 398, or MRSA ST398, was first identified in an infant in the Netherlands in 1994 and traced back to her family’s pigs. Now, researchers are starting to see more serious infections and some of the cases reveal no direct link to livestock, said Lance B. Price, director of The...

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TAGGED: bacterial infection, bacteria, staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic resistance, MRSA

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