We did not expect to be posting today but, unlikely as it seems. the biggest scandal of the 21st century is now breaking with 'The Independent' publishing on Christmas Day.
They are right to publish. Much more, and worse, is to come.
Just selected highlights, and it is difficult to select, 'The Independent' are due great credit for publishing.
Defra, Britain's truly awful agricultural ministry, now have to explain their quite extraordinary dereliction of duty before the court of public and world opinion.
The full 'Independent' report can be found here.
New MRSA superbug strain found in UK milk supply
Research reveals that antibiotic-resistant organisms are gaining a hold on dairy industry
Jeremy Laurance
Tuesday 25 December 2012
A new strain of MRSA has been found in British milk, indicating that the superbug is spreading through the livestock population and poses a growing threat to human health.
The new strain, MRSA ST398, has been identified in seven samples of bulk milk from five different farms in England...
...Experts say there is no risk of MRSA infection to consumers of milk or dairy products so long as the milk is pasteurised. The risk comes from farmworkers, vets and abattoir workers, who may become infected through contact with livestock and transmit the bug to others.
The discovery was made by scientists from Cambridge University who first identified MRSA in milk in 2011. They say the latest finding of a different strain is worrying.
Mark Holmes, of the department of veterinary medicine, who led the study, published in Eurosurveillance, said: "This is definitely a worsening situation. In 2011 when we first found MRSA in farm animals, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [Defra] initially didn't believe it. They said we don't have MRSA in the dairy industry in this country."
"Now we definitely have MRSA in livestock. What is curious is that it has turned up in dairy cows when in other countries on the Continent it is principally in pigs. Could it be in pigs or poultry in this country? We don't know."...
The MRSA superbug can cause serious infections in humans which are difficult to treat, require stronger antibiotics, and take longer to resolve. Human cases of infection with the new strain have been found in Scotland and northern England according to Defra, but no details are available....
...Vets in Norway and Denmark had much more limited prescribing powers than in the UK, he added.
