MRSA st398 - Pigs - a reservoir for people and poultry

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Belgians publishing research that would have been done in Britain but for the fact that Britain's useless government vets can't find any livestock with MRSA st398 to test.

It would be pointless looking because they have decided that Britain's healthy pigs do not have MRSA.

It's an argument that pleases them. We will see how they get on in court when the British Government faces massive claims for compensation after eleven years of veterinary deceit.

It will be interesting to see how they explain why British pork productivity per pig is about 25 percent lower than Belgium's.

If the Belgian pigs have MRSA, something that has been admitted for years, and yet produce much more pork, imagine the real situation in Britain.

Anyway, the dangers of maintaining a reservoir of MRSA infected pigs to man and other species neatly exposed by the capable Belgians.

Full extract here

Infect Genet Evol. 2011 Jul 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Screening of poultry-pig farms for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Sampling methodology and within herd prevalence in broiler flocks and pigs.

Pletinckx LJ, Verhegghe M, Dewulf J, Crombé F, De Bleecker Y, Rasschaert G, Goddeeris BM, De Man I.

Source

Catholic University College South-West-Flanders (KATHO), Department HIVB, Wilgenstraat 32, 8800 Roeselare, Belgium; Catholic University Leuven, Department of Biosystems, Division of Gene Technology, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - bus 2456, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.

Abstract

Many reports described the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in different livestock animals from one-species farms. However, in no published reports the prevalence on mixed poultry-pig farms was mentioned, nor the possible relation in MRSA colonization between those two species on one farm, and the possible role of the farmer in the dissemination of MRSA between those two species. Furthermore, no data is available on the optimal sampling site to detect MRSA in broilers. Therefore this study aimed to determine the most suitable sample location in broiler chickens for MRSA and within the flock prevalence of MRSA in various broiler flocks and compared this with the MRSA prevalence in pigs, the colonization of the farmer and the contamination in the barn environment in three mixed poultry-pig farms...

...A rather low within flock prevalence of MRSA varying between 0% and 28% was detected in broilers, whereas in pigs on the same farms the within herd prevalence varied between 82% and 92%. No MRSA contamination in the direct barn environment of the broilers was found, this in contrast to the environment of the pigs, indicating a relationship between MRSA prevalence and contamination in the environment.

Two farmers were continuously colonized, while the third one was only once. In conclusion, a major difference was seen in MRSA occurrence between broilers and pigs from the same farm...

... The farmer may play an important role in the dissemination of MRSA from pigs to poultry, especially in mixed farms where pigs are highly colonized and may act as a reservoir for MRSA ST398 carriage in humans.

Food Poisoning - Local does not mean safer.

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The US food safety attorney Bill Marler makes an important point that needs to be emphasised in Britain even more than it does in the USA.

Local does not mean safer.

The vast PR machines of both the crooks and the cranks like to cloud food safety issues. It's better than admitting to MRSA, Salmonella, E.Coli etc. and having to deal with reducing risks.

As a shipping and transport man, the writer knows that on average buying local does not save food miles. The whole concept is logistically illiterate. It would take hours of complex arguments to try to counter the not unreasonable perception that local does save miles, because it seems self-evident, but it is simply a fallacy.

As a former customs agent, and heavily involved in introducing computerised customs systems to the world, he faced exactly the same problem with IIIIM (imaginary illegally imported infected meat) being the source of CSF - Classified Swine Fever and FMD - Foot and Mouth Disease in 2000 and 2001. It wasn't, but nobody in their right mind exposes border control secrets in this dangerous world.  So the apparently reasonable idea that IIIIM was the cause, sponsored by corrupt veterinarians, much money and a lot of fabrication, stuck.

Farming is happy with the idea too. They don't really want the more awkward truth.

By chance, all these scandals hit on areas where the writer was an expert and had no axe to grind. By chance, he saw with his own eyes the most senior British government officials faking results and threatening anyone exposing them.

That was the writer's misfortune; it should be the world's good fortune.

We need honest experts we can trust, and truthful witnesses prepared to give evidence.

So it is left to the crooks and the cranks to battle it out supported by the ignorant and biased. The ignorant, in the proper sense of the word, will be biased if they have the wrong information. The mass of misleading information flooding the English speaking world drives the writer to despair some days.

Local is not safer and does not save food miles.

It may actually be riskier and consume more energy.  Imported is not more dangerous, it may even be safer. There is no direct connection, however much many may want a convenient congenial solution for sick livestock, contaminated water supplies and dangerous food.

Anyway, here is Marler on raw milk. Another expert, but making a better job of getting his voice heard. He is lucky he is not in the world's first, only and undoubtedly last vetocracy.

By the time we have dodged Murdoch and his merry men, shaken off the libelous politburo of uk.business.agriculture, circumnavigated the NHS and managed to get out and back again, nothing is left for shouting even louder.

That is why we look to America, in their own interests if necessary, to help sort out Britain.

Who wants to live in a country where the rot starts at a top blackmailed by crooks and the lawyers of the victims are tailed through the streets in an attempt to intimidate?

The writer has been publicly called a traitor to his country for seeking help in the USA.

If that is being a traitor, it is a badge he wears with pride for defending the children of Britain from crooks.

Link to Food Safety News World here

It has been a busy week in the Food Safety News World

Posted by Bill Marler on July 25, 2011

It started out with my comments in the article - "El Dorado County farmers challenge food regulations" on the desire by some to forgo food safety oversight simply because the food is local. I had a different take: Local food isn't necessarily healthy food, said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney.

"What these kind of ordinances are trying to do is 'let me do whatever I want to do because I believe (that) because my product is local it's safe,' " Marler said. "And that's baloney."

Marler is a sponsor of www.rawmilkfacts.com, a website Lyle cited in support of state rules.

People are unaware of the dangers of uninspected foods because they don't see the consequences, Marler said. "I've been in a lot of ICUs, I've been at funerals, I've seen children die because of what's in the food," he said.

"Regulation is not a bad thing," Marler added....(more)

MRSA st398 - Pig MRSA - More resistance found

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More problems for Britain's corrupt State Veterinary Service, who continue to claim British pigs are free of MRSA st398.

This is a bigger scandal than Murdoch and the 'News of the World.'

The link to the source is here.

Article

New transposon Tn6133 in MRSA ST398 contains vga(E), a novel streptogramin A-, pleuromutilin-, and lincosamide-resistance gene

Sybille Schwendener, and Vincent Perreten^*

Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

A novel streptogramin A-, pleuromutilin-, lincosamide-resistance determinant, Vga(E), was identified in porcine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ST398. The vga(E) gene encoded a 524-amino acid protein belonging to the ABC transporter family. It was found on a multidrug-resistant transposon, Tn6133, which was comprised of the Tn554 with a stably integrated 4,787-bp DNA sequence harboring vga(E). Detection of Tn6133 in several porcine MRSA ST398 isolates and its ability to circularize suggests a potential for dissemination.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Britain - Illegal Veterinary Antibiotics

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This article, from the important 'Pig Progress'  is unusual because it spells out in detail the power of veterinarians on prescription of antibiotics and their total control of what goes into Britain’s animals.

When antibiotic resistance is found in Britain’s livestock, the blame lies with the vets. They are fully and totally responsible. They prescribed the drugs for profit.

The  story can be read to suggest that smuggling of veterinary medicines, in which vets had to be involved and which the government failed to stop for six years, is responsible for antibiotic resistance in Britain's livestock, when eventually they are forced to admit MRSA in pigs and calves.

British vets, farming organisations and farming media have long shown an extraordinary fascination with smuggling. Thank goodness they know nothing about it. Whoever created the cover-ups left audit trails a mile wide.

They got away with blaming IIIIM (imaginary illegal imported infected meat) for the triple epidemics in 1999-2001, simply because nobody did the work on where the stories came from, or spotted the technical faults in the stories.

The writer was lucky, or unlucky, as a former shipbroker and customs agent, now at the epicentre of epidemics, he already knew a little about smuggling, spotted the deceptions early and reported them to the competent authorities in writing immediately. 

All the evidence has been preserved safely off-shore.

Find the full article here

UK: 13 convicted - Europe’s biggest ever illegal veterinary medicine business

//12 Jul 2011

Thirteen people have been convicted in connection with Europe’s biggest ever illegal veterinary medicine business in which more than £6 million of products were smuggled to the UK, risking the health of people and animals...

...Six other key players unlawfully distributed the products on the black market to British farms, stables, kennels and vet surgeries. Three other major customers were convicted, as well as one man responsible for laundering the proceeds.

Steve Dean, Chief Executive of the Government’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), which prosecuted the case, said, “This was a significant commercial enterprise which seriously attacked the principle of safe and effective veterinary medicines.

“Incorrect use of medication of unknown origin and dubious quality compromises animal health and welfare, increases the risk of harmful residues in the food chain and raises the spectre of unnecessary antibiotic resistance.”

The medicines included non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anabolic steroids, antibiotics, sedatives, and pain control treatments for a variety of species including horses, cows, sheep, pigs and household pets.

To be imported and sold for use in the UK all veterinary medicines must be authorised to ensure they are safe and effective, and many must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon. Even where medicines are authorised they must be distributed and sold through licensed outlets where trained staff are available to provide the necessary advice on safe use...

MRSA in larger Dutch Pig Herds

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This seems to settle the matter MRSA spreads from pig herd to pig herd, the larger the herd the more likely they have MRSA.

Most herds had MRSA and if the trend continued to the present day, all herds in Holland now have MRSA.

It seems impossible when almost the whole world has MRSA in its pigs, that Britain believes  she remains MRSA free, thanks to the brilliance and integrity of her dedicated veterinary surgeons.

Their  veterinarians have told them so in many words, in many places, over many years, whilst stuffing the pigs with antibiotics in order to keep them alive long enough to get them to Britain's dining tables.

The Dutch come out of this well: Britain's vets have questions to answer.

Access to the abstract and the full report here.

Prev Vet Med. 2011 Jul 4. [Epub ahead of print]

Prevalence and risk factor analysis of livestock associated MRSA-positive pig herds in The Netherlands.

Broens EM, Graat EA, Van Der Wolf PJ, Van De Giessen AW, De Jong MC.

Source

Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands; Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

Abstract

In 2005, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was found in pig herds and in humans in contact with pigs. To determin e the prevalence of, this now-called livestock-associated (LA) MRSA among pig herds in the Netherlands and to identify and quantify risk factors, an observational study of 202 pig herds was performed between 2007 and 2008. Five environmental wipes and 60 nasal swabs from each herd were collected, and microbiological analysis was performed on single environmental samples and pooled nasal samples. A herd was considered MRSA-positive if ≥1 sample tested positive. The prevalence of MRSA-positive herds was 67% in breeding herds and 71% in finishing herds. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was then performed on data from 171 breeding herds. The number of MRSA-positive herds increased from ∼30% at the start to ∼75% at the end of the study, most likely due to transmission between herds. The prevalence of MRSA increased with herd size, as ∼40% of smaller herds (<250 sows) were MRSA-positive compared to >80% of larger herds (>500 sows). Other risk factors (e.g. antimicrobial use, purchase of gilts and hygiene measures) were not significantly associated with MRSA, though associated with herd size. Herd size appeared to be a compilation of several factors, which made larger herds more often MRSA positive....

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PMID:

21733585

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Porcine Circovirus and Human Cancer

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The science is beyond the scope of this blog, but this caught our eye:

“Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), a small DNA virus in pigs, recently gained its notoriety when commercial human rotavirus vaccines were discovered to be contaminated by infectious PCV1.”

That’s not right: it was notorious before, but the range of worries increased when it was found in two human vaccines for use in children a couple of years ago.

Recently, there has been caustic comment over Bill Gates and the British government combining to buy huge quantities of these vaccines from pharmaceutical companies to donate to the third world.

Nobody wants to stop the provision of vaccines to needy vulnerable children.

But porcine circovirus has been repeatedly underestimated and epidemics in pigs the subject of blatant cover-ups and disinformation in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for many years.

The abstract and full report, with explanatory material, are available here

Short communication

Productive infection of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by porcine circovirus type 1

References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.

Nathan M. Beach^a, Laura Córdoba^a, Scott P. Kenney^a and Xiang-Jin Meng ^{, a,}

^a Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1981 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0913, United States

Received 8 February 2011;

revised 23 June 2011;
accepted 25 June 2011.
Available online 8 July 2011.

Abstract

Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), a small DNA virus in pigs, recently gained its notoriety when commercial human rotavirus vaccines were discovered to be contaminated by infectious PCV1. Here we report, for the first time, definitive evidence of productive PCV1 infection in a subclone of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (Huh-7, subclone 10-3). Infectious virus was detected in the lysates of infected Huh-7 cells by immunofluorescent assay (IFA) and can be serially passaged in Huh-7-S10-3 cells. The growth kinetic of PCV1 in Huh-7-S10-3 cells was determined in a one-step growth curve using IFA and a quantitative PCR assay. PCV1 achieved a lower infectious titer in Huh-7-S10-3 human cells compared to the titer normally achieved in porcine PK-15 cells from published studies. While the direct relevance to vaccine safety of PCV1 growth in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells is unclear, these data should be considered in further evaluation of vaccines and other products that could contain infectious PCV1.

Keywords: Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1); Vaccine contamination; Productive PCV1 infection; Human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

MRSA 'Save Our Antibiotics' Alliance Formed

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Movement on MRSA in Britain now, with quite a number of people involved leaving their posts, finding somewhere else to be, closing down activities and trimming their sails.

Many just make slight changes of emphasis in the hope that nobody will really notice.

Lobbying organisations have that quite extraordinary ability to turn on a sixpence and head off in the opposite direction.

Much of the farming media are, of course, completely shameless, feigning neutrality, people and objectives they poured scorn on, can suddenly become reportable and acceptable.

But British pigs still do not have MRSA according to Defra, Britain's infamous agricultural ministry.

It will take a little more courage before heading out into the storm and owning up to MRSA in British pigs.

They will then have to answer the question "How long has this been going on?" "Who has been doing the dirty business?"

The Murdoch media crisis has changed the view the world takes of these matters, especially when human health is endangered on this scale.

You can find the full report from the authoritative pig site here


Monday, July 11, 2011

'Save Our Antibiotics' Alliance Formed

UK - Compassion in World Farming, Sustain, and The Soil Association welcome the joint letter from the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the British Medical Association (BMA) on the use and misuse of antimicrobials.

It is very timely that the two bodies representing the professions responsible for administering the vast majority of antibiotics to humans and animals have put out such an unambiguous statement acknowledging the role of 'poor prescribing' in causing the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and calling for 'responsible use', according to Commpassion in World Farming...

...In 2004-2005, a new strain of MRSA was found in pigs on Dutch farms and by 2006, it was estimated that 50 per cent of all Dutch pig farmers carried the strain. Just last month, the first-ever documented cases of MRSA were confirmed in British farm animals - with 15 cases of a completely new type of MRSA found in milk from dairy farms throughout England. These outbreaks and the major recorded increase in food-poisoning bacteria resistant to a range of antibiotics highlight the urgency for action...

MRSA st398 Fact Sheet

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A helpful fact sheet from America's Keep Antibiotics Working group follows.

Something to keep to hand for when Britain's corrupt government vets are called to account for their manipulation of the media and failing to test Britain's pigs and other livestock for MRSA.

And, of course, various other outrages against British and international law.

The list is long.

Is this Murdoch's News Corporation's "worse to come" as suggested during the News of the World scandal?

Find the source here

FACT SHEET

MRSA (ST 398): A New Resistant Disease From Animals

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections were responsible for almost 19,000 deaths in the United States in 2005. Until recently, MRSA was a disease that people picked up in hospitals. MRSA now often infects people who have no connection to hospitals. This infection pattern is known as “community acquired.”

Recent research has shown that cattle and pigs can carry MRSA and that people who come into contact with farm animals are at greater risk for MRSA. The connection between MRSA and farm animals was first identified in the Netherlands in 2004 when a six-month-old girl was found to carry a new strain of MRSA ST 398 that came from her family’s pigs.

MRSA ST 398 has been shown to infect farm workers, their families, and  veterinarians in the Netherlands. Since its discovery in 2004, this unique, animal-associated strain of MRSA now accounts for 20% of the human MRSA in the Netherlands. ST 398 causes serious human illness, including skin, wound, lung, and heart infections.

MRSA ST 398 has now been found in U.S. pigs. A study published in January 2009 found MRSA ST 398 in 49% of swine and 45% of swine workers in an integrated operation with farms in Iowa and Illinois. This strain of MRSA is the same strain found in the Netherlands. The swine-associated MRSA differs from other strains of community-acquired MRSA because it is often resistant to drugs like minocycline, clindamycin, and Synercid given by doctors to treat MRSA.

The overuse of antibiotics in animal operations leads to the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA. Many operators feed cattle, swine and poultry large quantities of antibiotics in low doses. MRSA ST 398 has been shown to be more common on operations that use antibiotics routinely.

Resistant versions of Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, as well as MRSA, are found on retail meat.

It has long been recognized that resistant Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Enterococci infections are linked to antibiotic use in animals.

Federal government action on this serious human health problem has been lacking. There should be systematic testing of livestock for MRSA. Rural medical systems should be monitored to determine whether MRSA is leaving the farm and causing illness.

FDA should review the safety of antibiotics used in animal feeds in light of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and remove from the market any products that are unsafe.

MRSA st398 "Pig MRSA" hits the hospitals.

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Although  a report on MRSA st398 from Dutch scientists was published weeks ago, the republication is now making waves.

Flutrackers seems to have picked it up yesterday here so we guess PubMed have just e-published an extract here despite the earlier date.

The full report can be downloaded here: the concluding words are stark:

"…MRSA ST398 has led to a significant increase in MRSA positive patients thereby putting a considerable strain on infection control practices in hospitals. At present the main health risk of MRSA ST398 lays with those persons in contact with livestock."

The percentage increases thought provoking. It really just confirms what the writer feared, with others, for years.

Our interest is concentrated in the British cover-up and the implications.

The best possible construction you can place on the British government actions is that they did not want to find MRSA st398 in animals or people in Britain. They still have not acknowledged it in livestock in Britain.

Obviously the government veterinarians knew this was coming and that they are hunched up calling in favours and hoping the storm will pass.

It won’t. The British veterinary industry is going to be internationally disgraced and will have to be rebuilt. They have not even attempted to protect themselves or their client farmers.

There will be the chance for a bright new generation, with proper ethical standards, to reconstruct British veterinary science on modern foundations.

The abstract as given on Flutrackers with their emphasis is worth repeating.

Pig MRSA(ST398) is adapting itself to humans

A confirmation from Dutch research: the spread of pig MRSA ST398 led to an increase in both MRSA carriers and MRSA infections

Quote:

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2011 May 1. [Epub ahead of print] Infection and colonization with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST398 versus other MRSA in an area with a high density of pig farms. Wulf MW, Verduin CM, van Nes A, Huijsdens X, Voss A. PAMM Laboratory for Medical Microbiology, De Run 6250, 5504 DL, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, m.wulf@pamm.nl. Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the emergence of animal related methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST398 in an area with a high density of pig farms. A retrospective analysis was performed of all MRSA isolates in the laboratory database from 2002 till 2008 including typing results and clinical data from infection control archives and patient charts. The implementation of the screening of people in contact with pigs and veal calves for MRSA led to an increase in the average number of newly identified carriers from 16 per year between July 2002 and July 2006 to 148 between July 2006 and December 2008. This is a 925% increase of which 82% (108/132) was due to ST398. The majority (74%) came from targeted screening but 7% was due to unexpected findings. A wide range of infections with ST398 occurred in patients with and without contact with livestock varying from post-operative wound infections to sepsis and post-trauma osteomyelitis with an overrepresentation of spa type t567 among the clinical isolates. ST398 isolates were more often multi-resistant than isolates of other spa-types. The emergence of MRSA ST398 led to an increase in both MRSA carriers and MRSA infections. PubMed