It seems a trifle ironic that Edinburgh are
using statistics provided by the very transparent Danes, to show there is a problem
that does not, it has long been claimed by Britain’s government vets, exist in
Britain.
However, the conclusions seem to accord with common-sense
and confirm that the persistence, and indeed increase of disease in pigs, is
largely down to excessive live animal movements.
Solutions are going to be difficult to find given the structure of the industry, which makes it all the more surprising that the British government should continue to insist that British pigs are clear of MRSA st398
Abstract and access to full report here
Disease transmission on fragmented contact networks:
Livestock-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus in the Danish pig-industry
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► We model the between-farm transmission of LA-MRSA in the
Danish pig-industry. ► Movement-induced transmission alone can yield a high
probability of persistence at very low prevalence. ► There are currently no
practical, low-cost, farm-based control strategies that will effectively tackle
endemicity in the pig-industry. ► A low level of non-movement induced
transmission strongly affects colonisation dynamics.
