Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in food products: cause for concern or case for complacency?

The widespread use of antimicrobial agents, in combination with insufficient infection control measures, is the main driver of the current pandemic of antimicrobial resistance in human pathogens. The use of antimicrobials in food animal production also contributes, because resistant organisms and resistance genes can spread from animals to humans by direct contact or through the food chain. An important, traditionally human, pathogen, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is currently endemic in many hospitals around the world and has also emerged in the community.