MRSA Pigs-To-Humans 
Alert Over New Strain
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
http://www.rense.com/general77/alert.htm
 
Hello Jeff - This NEW STAIN of MRSA is extremely serious. As the
article points out. HALF of ALL Dutch farmers NOW carry the superbug
which was contracted from pigs fed antibiotics. 
  
Pigs To Humans Alert Over New MRSA Strain
* Half of all Dutch farmers now carry superbug
* Urgent call to screen UK lifestock and test imports
 
By Ian Sample 
Science Correspondent - The Guardian
6-26-7
  
Campaigners today call for urgent tests on the UK's farm animals after
the emergence of a new strain of MRSA which has spread rapidly among
farmers in Europe, causing an array of serious infections. 
  
The drug-resistant bug is thought to have arisen in pigs fed
antibiotics to protect them against farm-borne diseases and boost
their growth. The emergence of the new strain backs up fears voiced by
some experts that the heavy use of antibiotics in farm animals could
lead to a drug-resistant bug capable of infecting humans. 
  
The strain of staphylococcus aureus, known as ST398, is resistant to
commonly used antibiotics and has caused skin infections and rare
heart and bone infections in patients in the Netherlands, Denmark,
Belgium and Germany. 
  
A report published today by the organic farming organisation, the Soil
Association, says the superbug represents a new threat to human
health. It urged the government to introduce immediate screening of
national livestock and strict testing of imported meat products and
animals from affected regions, to prevent the superbug spreading to
Britain. The report reveals the swift spread of the new MRSA strain,
which tested positive in 39% of pigs at nine abattoirs in the
Netherlands last year. A further survey identified the strain in 13%
of Dutch calves. 
  
Medical officials found that 50% of Dutch farmers were carriers of the
strain, a prevalence 1,500 times higher than the rest of the
population. In one pig farming region 80% of all MRSA cases are now
caused by the farm animal strain. A survey by the Dutch food and
consumer product safety authority last year found traces of the bug in
20% of pork meat, 21% of chicken meat and 3% of beef. 
  
"It's going to get to the UK sooner or later, but the government is
doing nothing to look for it," said Richard Young, a co-author of the
report. "We should be doing routine surveillance on imported meat and
imported live chicks." 
  
The document also recommends a screening programme for farmers coming
from European countries before they work with live animals. 
  
"It's a new strain we should be looking for here," said Mark Enright,
an expert in MRSA at Imperial College, London. "The excessive use of
antibiotics is always a bad idea. If you do that for long enough,
inevitably one of the strains that emerges will be good at causing
disease in humans." 
  
The new strain was first detected two years ago in the Netherlands. 
  
A Defra spokesman said the government had commissioned research into
the spread of the infection among animals. "There is no consensus on
whether animals became infected from other animals or humans,
therefore the identification of MRSA in animals cannot be conclusively
linked to the use of antibiotics in animals." 
  
  
Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD 
Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics 
Univ of West Indies 
  
Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: 
http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php 
Also my new website: 
http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ 
Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa 
Go with God and in Good Health