Maryland does not require the anitibiotic-resistant strain of staph infection to be reported on a case-by-case basis, because no specific way has been found to handle or prevent each case, one official said.

“For some conditions, particularly those that are common and where there?s no specific public health action resulting from every single case, states employ other surveillance techniques,” Dr. David Blythe, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene epidemiologist, wrote in an e-mail.