.
This report is entirely consistent with the Gardiner Hypothesis - human MRSA following mutated PMWS outbreaks in pigs.
Owen Sound is in Ontario, where there has been an outbreak of mutated PMWS for some years followed by human epidemics of MRSA, then C.Diff and most recently Listeria.
MRSA has been found in people, pigs and pork in the area.
The Canadians should be looking for any connection between any of the health professionals or visitors and pigs or pork.
Those interested can find much more in the (now restored) archives of uk.business.agriculture fully searchable once again through Google Groups.
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1188249
Infection limits hospital access
Higher than normal number of newborn babies born with skin infection
Officials have limited access to the women and child unit at the Owen Sound hospital after a higher than normal number of new born babies were found to have contracted a skin infection called MRSA, a type of staphylococcus that is resistant to the antibiotic commonly used to treat it.
While less than 10 cases have been detected over the course of the summer, Dr. Paul Dick, the chief of pediatrics for Grey Bruce Health Services, said it was deemed necessary to take the precautionary step of monitoring who can enter and exit the unit.
"We've encountered a situation that is important to investigate and inquire about what is happening with infants and moms who have appeared at the hospital with infections at a higher rate than is normally found," Dick said Friday afternoon.
"At this time, it is not clear where it is being contracted, and if it is from the hospital we want to take steps to control the situation." MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, is resistant to the class of antibiotics that is frequently used to treat "staph," such as methicillin, and is therefore called methicillin-resistant.
The bacteria is commonly carried on the skin or in the nose. MRSA is almost always spread by direct contact with people and not through the air. The infection appears on the skin in clusters of boils, pimples or abscesses, but can take other forms as well.
According to Dick, MRSA is treatable with other antibiotics and the majority of the cases the hospital has seen have been minor and the infected person has not required hospitalization.
He would not, however, confirm if anyone has been hospitalized due to contracting MRSA. In some cases, it can be difficult to treat MRSA and it can progress to serious blood or bone infections. MRSA infections occur most often in health-care facilities, but can also occur in the community. The higher than normal rate of MRSA was detected as part of the hospital's regular screening process.
"We want families to know that they should not be afraid to obtain their care here, this is not an infectious agent and we are taking all of the steps to prevent the spread of it," Dick added.
