Summary
This article is behind a paywall. The following summary is based solely on the abstract and does not reflect an independent review of the article:
The authors used multiple methods to test for worker exposure to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) at four industrial pig operations in South Carolina. Three farms raised pigs on pasture without antibiotics (defined by the authors as “antibiotic-free hog operation: AFHO”) and one raised pigs in confinement using antibiotics (defined by the authors as (“industrial hog operation: IHO”). 85% of the pigs sampled from the IHO carried S. aureus versus none at the three AFHOs. The authors also report findings related to testing for S. aureus isolates from IHO pigs and air samples. 98.4% of isolates were multidrug resistant. S. aureus was found in varying frequencies from samples of ambient air and worker surrogate personal air samples. The authors report findings that suggest the potential for workplace exposure “through both direct (animal contact) and indirect (airborne) routes of transmission.”
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