.
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...
