MEC&F Expert Engineers : 05/02/17

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

2 people killed and 1 person seriously injured after a pickup truck went down a steep embankment on Highway 168 in California







Fresno County Fire crews said that two people were killed and one person was airlifted to the hospital with major injuries after a crash on Highway 168 near the Beal fire road. (KFSN)

ABC30 Web Staff
Updated 33 mins ago
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A disoriented victim told rescue crews the vehicle had gone over the cliff about eight days ago.

Fresno County Fire crews said that two people were killed and one person was airlifted to the hospital with major injuries after a crash on Highway 168 near the Beal fire road.




(Fresno County CalFire)

Cal Fire said when they arrived at the scene, they found two men who appeared to have been ejected from the vehicle had died. A third man in his twenties was alive and pinned inside the vehicle about 200 to 300 yards from the road down a steep embankment.

Crews used the jaws of life to cut the man out and he was airlifted out with major injuries.

A Cal Fire spokesperson said the man who survived told them he had been their for about eight days. Cal Fire said they could not confirm that because the man was disoriented, however they did say the engine of the vehicle was cold when they arrived.



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Two dead after truck tumbles down embankment on Highway 168 below Shaver Lake


Fresno Bee Staff


Two men in their 20s died and a third survivor was airlifted to a Fresno hospital Tuesday after a large pickup truck tumbled down an embankment in the Fresno County foothills on Highway 168 on the four-lane section between Auberry and Shaver Lake, according to Fresno County Emergency Medical Services.

A motorist stopped firefighters about halfway up the four-lane, about 40 miles east of Fresno, to report a vehicle over the side.

Two were dead at the scene, ejected from the Chevrolet Avalanche. The third man, also in his 20s, was extricated from the vehicle after the roof was removed, Cal Fire Capt. Jeremiah Wittwer said.


Cal Fire firefighters required rappelling equipment to get to the crash site, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Wittwer said the vehicle fell about 200 yards down the embankment, the first 100 feet filled with “rocks and boulders.” He said U.S. Forest Service crews helped chainsaw down brush and trees for firefighters to reach the vehicle, which was on its side and crushed.

A helicopter airlifted the rescued man to Community Regional Medical Center, according to Fresno County Emergency Medical Services.

Officials don’t know when the truck crashed.

Don Bare, who lives nearby, said he saw the truck “went way down the hill.”

He added: “If it had been there for days, you’d never see it.”

The crash was reported about about 10:52 a.m. Tuesday.



Fire that damaged homes under construction in Point Breeze havs been ruled arson








Point Breeze blaze ruled arson; $10,000 reward offered



POINT BREEZE (WPVI) -- A massive fire in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia has been ruled arson, and now reward of up to $10,000 is being offered as the investigation continues.

That money is for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said on Tuesday.

"Acts of arson are dangerous crimes and threaten the community. ATF is committed to keeping the public safe from those who maliciously set fires," said ATF Special Agent in Charge Sam Rabadi said in a statement.

The fire destroyed several residential properties at 20th and Wharton that were either complete or under construction early Monday morning.

Firefighters not only had to deal with the flames, but also a collapse as the flames consumed the buildings.

They were able to contain the blaze and place the situation under control within an hour.

Investigators have not said what a possible motive could be for setting the fire.

Residents said on Monday that the neighborhood in general was excited, but not everyone was welcoming of the new development.

"The developer is a friend of ours," said resident Chris Payne on Monday. "It's kind of been under contention because of gentrification issues. Some people who've lived in this neighborhood for a long time were not looking forward to seeing this development go in."

Anyone with information is asked to call the ATF 24/7 hotline at 1-888-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473), email: ATFTips@atf.gov or submit a tip anonymously by using the ReportIt App on your mobile phone.





Fire destroys homes in Pt. Breeze: Jeannette Reyes reports during Action News at noon on May 1, 2017.



Fire damages homes under construction in Point Breeze. John Rawlins reports during Action News at 5 p.m. on May 1, 2017.

LOSERS: Female Corrections Officer kills herself outside the Queensboro Correctional Facility after she attempted to kill her boyfried, also a CO in




Updated 2 hrs 40 mins ago
LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) -- A New York state correction officer is dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after authorities say she opened fire on her boyfriend on a Queens street, causing a brief panic Tuesday morning.

The incident happened around 7 a.m. on Van Dam Street in Long Island City, outside the Queensboro Correctional Facility.

Police say the 47-year-old woman got into a dispute with her boyfriend, also a corrections officers, and fired a shot at him. She missed, hitting a car instead.

She then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the chest, according to authorities.

"The correction officer was chasing a guy, I don't know who it was," said a witness who was sitting in the car that was struck by the bullet. "She took about five shots. One of the bullets hit the car I was in...then she followed him down the block, then she came back about five minutes later and shot herself."

She was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital.

Queensboro Correctional Facility is a state-run facility, and the state Department of Corrections spokesperson Thomas Mailey issued the following statement:

"This morning there was a tragic incident outside of the Queensboro Correctional Facility involving two correction officers. At no time was security to the facility breached. As a precaution, the facility is operating on a modified schedule. The Department is assisting the New York City Police Department in its investigation."

The victim's identity has not been released.

this year’s Dirty Dozen Employers include:Atlantic Drain, Dedicated TCS, California Cartage, Dollar General, Environmental Enterprises, Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride, PrimeFlight of Nashville and others

 

Infographic. | National Council for Safety and Health

Among the companies the Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) identifies as this year’s Dirty Dozen are a Boston contractor whose indifference to safety led to the deaths of two workers in a trench collapse and a Lansing, Illinois, tanker cleaning service that did nothing to prevent fumes from filling a tank car and killing an employee.

COSH, is a coalition of labor unions, health and technical professionals, and others that advocates for worker health and safety. National COSH released its report in advance of Workers Memorial Day, this past April 28, unveiling it at a press conference April 26.

At the press conference, Jordan Barab, a deputy assistant OSHA director during the Obama administration, said “The Dirty Dozen shows the need for more enforcement” by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and by federally approved state OSHAs.

Dedicated TCS, an Illinois-based tank cleaning firm made the list because it did not check the air quality in a rail tank car located in New Orleans before the work began. As a result, Armond Stack died and his two co-workers almost did.

The three lacked harnesses, and the confined space lacked oxygen, the New Orleans coroner said. OSHA proposed fining Dedicated TCS $226,310. The firm had prior repeated confined space violations in other locations, including in Lansing and Channahon, Illinois.

The Boston trench collapse occurred when a nearby water main broke, throwing dirt, mud, gravel and water on top of trench diggers Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks.

Mattocks and Higgins were killed because their employer, Atlantic Drain, did not follow basic safety rules. The Boston district attorney indicted both the firm and its owner on two counts of manslaughter and other charges.

Furthermore, the Boston City Council passed an ordinance barring construction firms with a history of serious and repeated OSHA violations – like Atlantic Drain – from getting city permits. Now the state senate is considering similar legislation. And the city council is considering amending a 200-year-old law that now limits fines in such cases to $1,000. The bill under consideration would raise fines to $250,000.

Along with Atlantic Drain and Dedicated TCS, the Dirty Dozen include:

California Cartage of Long Beach, California: Because the company did not provide machine safeguards, and because there were faulty brakes on its trucks, driver William Vasquez was killed.

Speakers at the COSH press conference said that the firm treats its drivers as “independent contractors” unprotected by workplace laws, including labor laws.

Dollar General in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The Dirty Dozen report calls all the chain’s stores “a fire disaster waiting to happen” because exits were blocked. OSHA cited the chain more than 100 times and fined it more than $1 million combined for that violation alone in its stores nationwide.

Environmental Enterprises, Inc., of Spring Grove, Ohio, where a chemical explosion killed employee Zachary Henzerling. An OSHA report describes the company as having a “complete disregard for employees’ safety.” The firm was indicted for involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide.

Fuyao Glass America of Dayton, Ohio. The firm operates the world’s largest auto glass plant but doesn’t provide its workers with gloves. Workers were exposed to broken glass and risked amputation. OSHA cited it for 23 serious violations.

The Nissan USA auto plant in Franklin, Tennessee: Four workers died over a four-year period. Safety violations are rampant, one speaker at the press conference said, because workers fear losing their jobs if they complain, despite the fact that federal law bans retaliation against whistleblowers. OSHA has fined Nissan $99,000.

The Pilgrim’s Pride poultry processing plant in Greeley, Colorado: One worker died and another lost fingers in a machine “because management did nothing” to address amputation risk, the Dirty Dozen report says. Workers are also exposed to toxic ammonia.

PrimeFlight of Nashville, Tennessee exposes its workers to blood-borne pathogens. OSHA said PrimeFlight had 22 violations in the last three years. Conditions there are “likely to cause death or serious harm.”

TransAm Trucking of Olathe, Kansas: In minus 37 degree weather, after reporting that his cab had frozen brakes and receiving no help, driver Alphonse Maddin left the vehicle on the side of a road to seek assistance. OSHA and its appeals board ruled for him after TransAm fired him for protecting his own life. The case went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Every member of that court upheld OSHA’s ruling except Judge Neil Gorsuch, the newest U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Valley Garlic and X-Treme AG of California: Four migrant workers died in the crash of an illegal transport van. Following a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor, the contractor was enjoined from transporting agricultural workers.

The Dirty Dozen report also cites one foreign firm: the South Korean computer/phone chip maker Samsung.

The report says that more than 200 Samsung workers became seriously ill, and 76 died, from fumes released while making the chips. The firm also retaliates by a secret plan to “dominate employees” and “punish leaders,” the report says. Samsung’s CEO is now awaiting trial in South Korea’s wide-ranging presidential bribery scandal.

Man drowned in the Arkansa River doing rafting with Royal Gorge Rafting Co. in the Royal Gorge in Fremont County, CO












Fremont County Coroner confirms drowning as cause of rafter's death
Posted: 05/01/2017 04:01:02 PM MDT

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo.:
 
The identity of the man who died Sunday in a rafting accident is still undisclosed.

Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said the victim is from out of the country and that family members are still trying to be reached.

Keller confirmed the victim died of drowning rather than any other medical condition.

According to a news release from Sgt. Megan Richards of the Fremont County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched at 12:38 p.m. Sunday to the river near the end of CR 61 for a report of a commercial rafting accident that left three people in the river.

Upon arrival, FCSO found all parties out of the river and OK, except the one male who was unresponsive. CPR was attempted on the victim but was unsuccessful.

Keller said he believed the rafting company did everything they could to save the victim and should not be held at fault.

Keller would not say which rafting company was involved and the Daily Record has reached out to FCSO for the name but has not received a response.



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FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - One man has died after a commercial rafting accident in Fremont County Saturday afternoon.

On Monday, the Fremont County coroner released the cause of death as "accidental drowning" following an autopsy. The man was visiting from outside of the country and his identity has not been made public. Authorities are still trying to notify his family of his passing.

According to the Fremont County Sheriff's office, they got a call for a commercial rafting accident on the Arkansas River near Sunshine Rapid around 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The report said that three people had fallen into the river.

When deputies got on scene they found that everyone was out of the river, but, one man was unresponsive and not breathing. Medical crews couldn't access the scene, so a rail truck with the Royal Gorge Route Railroad was called to take the man to them.

CPR was performed but the man was pronounced dead.

In addition to the sheriff's office and Royal Gorge railroad, the Cañon City Fire Department, AMR, Flight for Life and Colorado Parks and Wildlife were all involved in rescue efforts.


The rafting company involved is Royal Gorge Rafting out of Cañon City.


Worker fell through the roof and then became stuck between pipes at the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office



OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Rescue crews were called to the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office following a bizarre accident.

On Tuesday morning, firefighters were called to the medical examiner’s office at N.E. 8th and Stonewall.

Investigators say a worker fell through the roof and then became stuck between some pipes.

Thankfully, it didn’t take rescue crews long to get him safely on the ground.

However, there was no word on the worker’s condition.

2 Trumbull Corp. construction workers trapped by a shifting reinforcing bar on a bridge pier for the new Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway in Union County, PA




















UNION COUNTY, PA (WBRE/WYOU)



A construction worker is recovering tonight after being trapped for several minutes about 100 feet in the air, in Union County.

The worker was pinned after rebar - known as reinforcement steel- collapsed.

it happened in Union Township, just before 9 A.M. Monday morning.

A local fire department had to rescue the worker on top of a bridge pillar for the 'Central Susquehanna Valley thruway' project, know as C-S-V-T.

The construction worker was taking to the hospital with minor injuries.





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A construction worker had to be freed after being trapped by a shifting reinforcing bar on a bridge pier for the new Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway in Union County Monday morning.

A second worker was also trapped but was able to free himself, said David Thompson, PennDOT District 3 spokesman. The workers are employed by Trumbull Corp. of Pittsburgh.

It took emergency responders an hour to free the trapped worker, Thompson said. Neither had serious injuries, and were taken to a local hospital to be evaluated.

Work was halted by the contractor at the pier until the accident is investigated, and OSHA is on site, Thompson said.

The pier was being built east of Route 15 near the Susquehanna River.

The bridge, estimated to cost $156 million, is the first phase in the $670 million Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project.

The CSVT project includes construction of a 13-mille limited access highway connecting Route147 in Northumberland with Routes 11/15 in Snyder County north of Selinsgrove. When completed, the river bridge will be more than 4,500 feet long with a peak elevation of 180 feet. Completion of the project is expected in 2019.



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One saved in 100-foot rescue at CSVT bridge site

By Eric Scicchitano The Daily Item
19 hrs ago



A construction worker trapped 100 feet above ground Monday at the Winfield site of the river bridge project for the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway was cut free and rescued from steel rebar that collapsed.

“There were four workers on top of one of the piers. They were preparing for the next concrete pour and were securing the rebar. The structure bent for some reason. Nobody really knows why at this point,” said Chief Rick Wetzel of the Union Township Fire Co.

Two men were trapped in the rebar when it collapsed atop a concrete bridge pier. One of the workers managed to free himself. The second worker was stuck about 45 minutes.

“He was in the middle of the rebar,” Wetzel said.

A crane was used to steady the rebar as the rescue operation ensued, Wetzel said. The two workers caught in the collapse and two others working atop the pier were brought down to ground on construction man lifts. Emergency responders and contractors worked together to reach the rebar and free the trapped man.

“Really, there are no trucks around tall enough to reach that,” Wetzel said.

The incident was reported at 9:10 a.m., according to Union County 911 Communications.

The unidentified worker suffered a shoulder injury that appeared to be minor, Wetzel said. The fire chief added it was the company’s first emergency call to the bridge construction site.

Assisting on scene were William Cameron Engine Co., Lewisburg, Shamokin Dam Fire Co., and medics from Mifflinburg Community Ambulance Association and Evangelical Community Hospital, according to the 911 center.

David Thompson, PennDOT's District 3 spokesman, said it’s unclear what caused the rebar to collapse.

“We don’t know at this time,” Thompson said. “We’re not aware of any serious injuries.”

Thompson said work was halted until an investigation is conducted.

Trumbull Corp., of Pittsburgh, is the lead project contractor.

The construction site is near the Susquehanna River east of Route 15 in Union County.

The $155 million river bridge, the first phase of the $650 million CSVT project, will be more than 4,500 feet long with an elevation of 180 feet. It's projected to be completed in 2019.


Living near livestock farms and manure-treated fields are found to be associated with higher rates of antibiotic-resistant infection









Pig-Manure Fertilizer Linked to Human MRSA Infections

Living near livestock farms and manure-treated fields are found to be associated with higher rates of antibiotic-resistant infection


By Sarah Zhang, Nature magazine on September 17, 2013



Credit: Dylan Snow/Flickr

People living near pig farms or agricultural fields fertilized with pig manure are more likely to become infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, according to a paper published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Previous research has found that livestock workers are at high risk of carrying MRSA, compared to the general population. But it has been unclear whether the spreading of MRSA through livestock puts the public at risk of infection.

The study examined the incidence of infections in Pennsylvania, where manure from pig farms is often spread on crop fields to comply with state regulations for manure disposal. Researchers reviewed electronic health-care records from patients who sought care from the Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health System (which helped to fund the study) in 2005–10.

The team analyzed cases of two different types of MRSA — community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), which affected 1,539 patients, and health-care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA), which affected 1,335 patients. (The two categories refer to where patients acquire the infection as well as the bacteria’s genetic lineages, but the distinction has grown fuzzier as more patients bring MRSA in and out of the hospital.) Then the researchers examined whether infected people lived near pig farms or agricultural land where pig manure was spread. They found that people who had the highest exposure to manure — calculated on the basis of how close they lived to farms, how large the farms were and how much manure was used — were 38% more likely to get CA-MRSA and 30% more likely to get HA-MRSA.

The researchers also analyzed 200 skin, blood, and sputum samples isolated from patients in the same health-care system in 2012. The MRSA strains found in those samples are commonly found in humans. Researchers did not find any evidence of bacteria belonging to clonal complex 398 (CC398), a MRSA strain classically associated with livestock and found in farms and farm workers in many previous studies.

However, there is little information about which MRSA strains are most common on US farms, so the absence of CC398 is not a sign that MRSA is not being transmitted from livestock to humans. “We’ve done studies in Iowa, we haven’t always found CC398. That’s not too shocking,” says Tara Smith, a microbiologist at Kent State University in Ohio, who was not involved in the study.

Many researchers think that widespread use of antibiotics to encourage growth in farm animals fuels the proliferation of MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria. The latest findings suggest that manure is helping antibiotic resistance to spread, says Joan Casey, an environmental-health scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, and a co-author of the study.

“We’ve certainly described a connection we think is plausible,” she says. “We haven’t described every step in the path.”

“It’s a pretty interesting and provocative observation,” says Robert Daum, a pediatrician and the principal investigator of the MRSA Research Center at the University of Chicago in Illinois. He adds that he would like to see similar studies done in different geographic regions, and research to find out whether the MRSA strains carried in pig manure are the same as the MRSA strains found in nearby human infections.

Casey is at work on a follow-up genetics study to identify the most common MRSA strains in the region.

SHOCKING! HOW HATFIELD FOOLED THE REGULATORS ABOUT THE HATGRO SHITTY PRODUCT: Montgomery County residents claim that the Hatfield HatGro fertilizer is making them sick









Montco residents say fertilizer plant is making them sick. 
The fertilizer  is called Hatgro which is basically slaughtered pig wastewater that's dried and mixed with lime, and made into pellet form.

SHOCKING!  HOW HATFIELD FOOLED THE REGULATORS ABOUT THE HATGRO SHITTY PRODUCT:  Hatfield Quality Meats (Hatfield) generates food processing residual (FPR) product which is dried into pellets and, when compared to poultry pellets, is rich in nitrogen. Hatfield wanted the freedom and flexibility to use the pellets in agriculture as a natural fertilizer, without the need for regulatory oversight and permitting.

By Chad Pradelli
Tuesday, May 02, 2017 01:26AM
BALLY, Pa. (WPVI) -- Some Montgomery County residents are raising a stink about the fertilizer plant next door. They say something's changed and now it's making them sick.

From Springfield Township, Bucks County to Bally, Berks County.

Some residents say fertilizer clouds have been hovering over their homes, coating cars, creating an unbearable stench and simply making life miserable.

Joe Wolfgang of Bally, Pennsylvania said, "Just made you choke up, you can't breathe, your lungs are burning."

Joe Wolfgang says the fertilizer infiltrating his Bally home is called Hatgro which is basically slaughtered pig wastewater that's dried and mixed with lime, and made into pellet form. He and other residents gathered for a town meeting to voice concerns last month.

Ann Elderhorse of Bally said, "We ended up with sinus infections. A week and half after, my family ended up in the doctor's office."

University of Buffalo environmental engineer, Dr. Robert Baier has been testing dust samples provided by Wolfgang and other residents pro bono. He says the samples had a very high alkalinity due to the lime.

He said, "When it gets into the mucus passages or in your eyes or in your lungs, it burns. It stings like hell."

In Newtown, Bucks County, Rick Gillie said, "The smell is probably the most disgusting smell you can imagine. Once it gets in the air, it just stays with you, like a dead decaying body."

Neha Shah of Newtown, Pennsylvania said, "It's like a decaying body, a dying animal."

David Beane, an environmental attorney has filed suit against Hatfield and the farmer who applied the product on behalf of several affected residents who claim dust blew onto their property.

"This was not a problem until 2015. Something happened in 2015 that changed the application and its that we're attempting to reverse," said Beane.

Hatfield says it trains farmers how to use and apply the product.

The company feels the complaints are few and it doesn't see a need to reformulate it.

Tim Bergere, Clemens Food Group attorney said, "We're obviously concerned anytime somebody has a complaint about a product the company produces."

Hatfield denies the plaintiffs' allegations - calls the fertilizer organic, safe and denies the product is more odiferous than other common fertilizers. In court papers, the company also says the Pa. DEP inspected the Wolfgang's property and found the application did not violate any laws.

Clemens admits the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection has asked it about controlling dust from Hatgro.

Bergere said, "You don't want to re-engineer a product because in one particular case it may have mis-applied or applied on a windy day".

Brad Clemens of Clemens Food Group said, "But again, these are people who live in the same communities we do. So if it is something that's important to them then it is something that is important to us"

Hatfield meats makes virtually no money on this product. Farmers are essentially given the product.


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Management of "HatGro", a Thermally Dried Food Processing Residual, Hatfield Quality Meats, Hatfield, PA


Hatfield Quality Meats (Hatfield) generates food processing residual (FPR) product which is dried into pellets and, when compared to poultry pellets, is rich in nitrogen. Hatfield wanted the freedom and flexibility to use the pellets in agriculture as a natural fertilizer, without the need for regulatory oversight and permitting. Material Matters developed an approach for establishing co-product status for a food processing residual (FPR) generated at the Hatfield processing facility and we were able to obtain co-product status from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) through an application process that met the needs for beneficial use for Hatfield.




=========


Pig-Manure Fertilizer Linked to Human MRSA Infections

Living near livestock farms and manure-treated fields are found to be associated with higher rates of antibiotic-resistant infection


By Sarah Zhang, Nature magazine on September 17, 2013



Credit: Dylan Snow/Flickr

People living near pig farms or agricultural fields fertilized with pig manure are more likely to become infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, according to a paper published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Previous research has found that livestock workers are at high risk of carrying MRSA, compared to the general population. But it has been unclear whether the spreading of MRSA through livestock puts the public at risk of infection.

The study examined the incidence of infections in Pennsylvania, where manure from pig farms is often spread on crop fields to comply with state regulations for manure disposal. Researchers reviewed electronic health-care records from patients who sought care from the Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health System (which helped to fund the study) in 2005–10.

The team analyzed cases of two different types of MRSA — community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), which affected 1,539 patients, and health-care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA), which affected 1,335 patients. (The two categories refer to where patients acquire the infection as well as the bacteria’s genetic lineages, but the distinction has grown fuzzier as more patients bring MRSA in and out of the hospital.) Then the researchers examined whether infected people lived near pig farms or agricultural land where pig manure was spread. They found that people who had the highest exposure to manure — calculated on the basis of how close they lived to farms, how large the farms were and how much manure was used — were 38% more likely to get CA-MRSA and 30% more likely to get HA-MRSA.

The researchers also analyzed 200 skin, blood, and sputum samples isolated from patients in the same health-care system in 2012. The MRSA strains found in those samples are commonly found in humans. Researchers did not find any evidence of bacteria belonging to clonal complex 398 (CC398), a MRSA strain classically associated with livestock and found in farms and farm workers in many previous studies.

However, there is little information about which MRSA strains are most common on US farms, so the absence of CC398 is not a sign that MRSA is not being transmitted from livestock to humans. “We’ve done studies in Iowa, we haven’t always found CC398. That’s not too shocking,” says Tara Smith, a microbiologist at Kent State University in Ohio, who was not involved in the study.

Many researchers think that widespread use of antibiotics to encourage growth in farm animals fuels the proliferation of MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria. The latest findings suggest that manure is helping antibiotic resistance to spread, says Joan Casey, an environmental-health scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, and a co-author of the study.

“We’ve certainly described a connection we think is plausible,” she says. “We haven’t described every step in the path.”

“It’s a pretty interesting and provocative observation,” says Robert Daum, a pediatrician and the principal investigator of the MRSA Research Center at the University of Chicago in Illinois. He adds that he would like to see similar studies done in different geographic regions, and research to find out whether the MRSA strains carried in pig manure are the same as the MRSA strains found in nearby human infections.

Casey is at work on a follow-up genetics study to identify the most common MRSA strains in the region.