House Staffer Infected With MSRA

ABC News, April 2009

Congressional staffers are privy to many Washington, D.C., insider perks -- but catching a bacterial infection at the House of Representatives gym is not one of them.

A House staffer reportedly has been infected with a drug-resistant superbug, possibly from a gym used by some members of Congress.

A House staffer reportedly has contracted the superbug known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and some who work in the Capitol have speculated that the origin of the infection was in a gym possibly used by some lawmakers, according to a report from the congressional newspaper, The Hill.

A statement The Hill received from the House chief administrative officer said that a House employee who is also a member of the House Staff Fitness Center (HSFC) reportedly contracted the common bacterium, which, in humans, is typically found on the skin and in the nose.

The identity of the infected staffer has not yet been released, nor have there been any further reports of infection.

Meanwhile, the HSFC reportedly has scrubbed down the gym with a germicidal cleaning product.