Sweden Highly Critical of Danish Pig Production

This is Denmark's oldest newspaper, rescued by a consortium including one of the world's great shipowners, sold to the Norwegians and all now under British ownership. So, the journalists know their subject.

The report, in full, explains in disturbing detail the background to some of the strange statistics coming from the pig industry in Denmark, Britain and elsewhere.

This is the last subject Britain's hypocritical veterinary establishment wanted explored.

That's tough, it is going to get an airing.

This is part of the scandal of the century - sick pigs spreading disease, including MRSA, into the hospitals.

Be sure to read in full here



POLICY   02/24/15, KL. 09:50

EL thunders against Danish pig producers: Stop the mass killing Unity votes in the Swedish chorus that is highly critical of the Danish pig production. There must be an end to masseaflivningen in
Danish stables, it said.

By: Michael Alsen Lauridsen, Berlingske News

There is a need to do away with the idea of ??quantity in the Danish pig farms. Instead, the focus is to breed quality pork under proper conditions...

...The debate is based, among other things, that the Danish pig producers have made calculations showing that it is not viable to keep piglets weighing less than two pounds at birth alive. Critics of our neighbor, neither is it particularly humanely when pig killing piglets by beating piglet heads on concrete floors in barns...

Pig MRSA - The Secret Pig Factories - Denmark & Scotland

In the midst of yet another superbug crisis in Californian hospitals, the American press reference the British government report:

"A British report in December found that, in the U.S. and Europe alone, more than 50,000 lives are claimed annually from infections such as MRSA and CRE, the bacteria associated with the UCLA crisis. (The acronym stands for “carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.”) By 2050, the report warned, such infections will kill 10 million people worldwide each year unless we address antibiotic resistance."

Britain needs to live up to its words.

You can read more on CRE in California here.

Denmark's Kjeld Hansen is also reporting on MRSA cc398 in an article entitled "The Secret Pig Factories." You can read Hansen's report in full here.

In the midst of a, doubtless justified, complaint about secrecy, he illuminates a potential solution to the problem of MRSA in pigs and how secrecy impedes the process

"Eastern High Court has ruled that the Ministry's list of MRSACC398 Pigs infected plants must remain secret...

...These producers have a legitimate claim to be able to guard against infection when purchasing weaners and breeding stock trades. With the strategy of secrecy fails L & F these members, and there are already Zealand pig farmers who are considering downloading clean piglets in Sweden to ensure their MRSA-free status..."

Mr Hanson is right, the rush is now on to locate "clean" pigs to re-populate a new re-organised improved pig farming.

Although also impeded by secrecy, Scotland is still ahead of the game in one way, with detailed proposals for an Islay High Health Pig Farm outlined on the newsgroup uk.business.agriculture in a number of posts over many months.

The island should be working to claim their share and Scotland must also press ahead with the parallel reforms to the industry across Scotland. We will elaborate on the nature of these later.

In the meantime, England has, at least, owned up to MRSA st398 in its pigs, although not the scale or duration. However, reform of the industry is clearly under way in some bitter trench warfare.

Almost alone in the world, Scotland has still not yet admitted MRSA in its pigs, let alone the scale or duration of the crisis, and its bloated pompous veterinary industry still needs to be dragged into the
process of reform.

The pieces of the jigsaw of porcine MRSA solutions are falling into place with the Scottish island of Islay taking pride of place with a very real prospect of leading the pack.

You can find the ideas behind the Islay High Health Pig Farm outlined in a series of posts on uk.business.agriculture: use the search function, we suggest "Islay" will  bring all the relevant posts to hand.

Obviously, if the project gathers pace, much more detailed reports and proposals will be necessary, and we wait developments - especially Scotland's admission of the problem and, eventually the location of some clean starter stock. Mr Hansen's pig farming contacts think Sweden. The writer thinks Norway: either is possible as are other locations that escaped the worst features of intensification and globalisation of pig farming.

Norway - Pig MRSA - Update

Now we wait to see. Have the Norwegians got pig MRSA trapped?

Can the slaughter policy work?

If it can, they have a pig MRSA eradication policy and a world class premium product.

The rest of Europe will have a success to copy and a source of 'clean pigs' to restock their own MRSA riddled herds.

As always read in full here.

Authorities order slaughter of 3,000 pigs

February 19, 2015

Norwegian food safety authorities have confirmed the presence of the dangerous bacteria staphylococcus on a large pig farm in Nord-Trøndelag. All 3,000 animals on the farm, which was not identified, must be slaughtered...

...The authorities were running tests on livestock at 16 other farms that had contact with the infected swine. Twelve of the farms are in Nord-Trøndelag, two are in Troms, one in Sør-Trondeland and one in Nordland.

Pig MRSA in Norway

We have confirmation that one pig herd in Norway has been found to have MRSA cc398 . That must come as a huge disappointment. Norway was almost clear.

The enlightened Norwegian state veterinarians have immediately reported the situation and are busy testing contacts.

We await a similar frankness from Scotland, where the MRSA pig health situation is much worse, with no transparency and medieval procedures .

They can't hold out much longer covering up a public health disaster, now that England has owned up.

Norwegian government report here. As always read in full

Confirmed findings of LA-MRSA in a swine herd in Nord-Trondelag

Published 18/02/2015 | Last modified 02/19/2015   

FSA has today been confirmed LA-MRSA in a swine herd in North Trøndelag. It's imposed restrictions on the crew, which means that it can not be led swine or out...

...All MRSA variants can be transmitted between humans and animals. Bacterium rare disease in animals and healthy people, but for peoplewho already have impaired health may bacterium cause serious infections. It is therefore important to keep incidence in livestock and in the population as low as possible and to prevent the bacterium establishes itself in health institutions...

- Efforts to identify and take samples of contact herds are wellunderway. We expect answers to the first tests in the end of this week, says regional director of the FSA, Bjorn Rothe Knudtsen. Animals in the affected herds can be sent to slaughter. After emptying the
barns shall be washed and disinfected.

It's imposed restrictions on 15 contact husbandry. Contact animal groups there are two in Troms, one in Nordland, and one in South Trøndelag and the remaining twelve Nord-Trøndelag.

Monitoring program in 2015

In March starts FSA, in cooperation with the National Veterinary Institute, this year's monitoring program for LA-MRSA in pigs in Norway.

MRSA - Danes in trouble exporting pork to China?

You can see why Scotland is so keen to continue to cover up MRSA in its pigs and tries to block knowledge of the proposed Islay High Health Pig Farm.

Once you own up to a pig MRSA problem the repercussions can get serious very quickly and span the world.

No excuse, of course, but it does help explain the ridiculous, dangerous and unethical behaviour of Scotland's bloated veterinary sector.

But there is no virtue in being the last to confess the problem and very little hope of blaming the Danes.

Scotland was still importing live pigs from Denmark recently - and has a history of exporting porcine diseases south to England!

Examining the recent past, and frankly examining it, helps us devise solutions to the coming storm.

Here is the talented commentator and journalist Kjeld Hansen on the troubles in the  Denmark-China pork trade:

Pig MRSA in English from the Danes

The Danes are now publishing increasingly in English about MRSA.

The massive scale of the problem facing Britain and the NHS seems to hit harder when it comes in your own language.

As always, read in full.

Politken here.

DISEASE 12. FEBRUARY 2015 KL. 7.10
Twice as many infected with porcine MRSA last year
Professor demand clean production lines to reduce the prevalence

FLEMMING CHRISTIANSEN
When a person is infected with the bacterium porcine MRSA, it means
that the bacterium has been dwelling in the body, the liver and to
multiply there. And it will not just disappear right away. Not even if
you stay away from pigs....

The Local here

MRSA cases in Denmark doubled in just one year
Published: 12 Feb 2015 08:16 GMT+01:00

The variant of MRSA that can be transmitted from livestock to humans
used to account for just two percent of all MRSA cases but in 2014 the
pig-borne bacteria accounted for 43 percent - "an epidemic that is out
control", an expert warned...

Pig MRSA - Waiting for Scotland

Scotland remains more or less the only country still claiming to be free of Porcine MRSA in its pigs.

England owned up a week ago and very slowly the farming and veterinary media published, playing the significance down, of course, and with most of the really important information behind password protection.

However, they did own up. They are not in the clear, far from it, but at least they have allowed us to campaign for proper protection for the hospitals, with the admission that MRSA is here and in the pigs and people.

Where is Scotland?

Is Edinburgh planning to go into what will be a fractious general election hiding up an animal disease killing kids?

There is no hope of getting the proposed Islay High Health Pig Farm under way, until the problem, the need, and the scale is admitted.

Come on, Scotland!

The Danes are afraid of MRSA

Mechanical translators may render Danish TV as "BBC."

Both should regard it as a compliment. Both have stood out against state veterinary corruption with exposures and critical investigative programmes.

Both will have to continue to report on the continuing cover-up over MRSA in pigs and people in Britain and Denmark.

Danish TV may have resolved the problem of being confused with the BBC, I regret that. Explaining was always a pleasure.

Be sure to read in full here.  The article reflecting the programme screened last night.

The Danes are afraid of MRSA

Swine -MRSA bacterium spreads in piggeries. Recently, it has been found that also the pork meat is infected. It worries Danes.

PM. 13:30

According to a poll by the Epinion for the food magazine, think 55% of Danes, swearing -MRSA is dangerous for them. 

There are MRSA bacteria both in piggeries - and in pig meat in cold counter.

The latest survey by the Food Agency show that 2 out of 3 Danish piggeries have pig MRSA. And in the autumn could Local TV station TVSYD tell that 21 percent of the packages pork that had been tested, was infected with the bacterium...

...See why there is MRSA in our pork - and find out how the infection spreads in the Danish pig farms in the food magazine Tuesday evening 21:55 on DR1.

#MRSA discovery in English pigs 'not surprising', vets say.

MRSA discovery in English pigs 'not surprising', vets say.

Not my headline, but Alistair Driver on Farmer's Guardian.

You can read the full article here. It is not under password protection.

I'll bet the UK veterinary leaders are disappointed. Britain's corrupt state veterinary service could not keep the cover-up going for any longer. The top people certainly will not be surprised.

It is a fat lot of good testing live imports when the disease has obviously been here in Great Britain in pigs for a full decade.

Now we have to get testing done under tight external supervision to find out the scale of the problem in England - and in, of course, Scotland where it may be well be even worse.

Of course, Britain's most senior veterinarians face charges of crimes against humanity. What else should we expect?

Please, let's get on to protecting the hospitals leaving veterinary corruption to the investigating and prosecuting authorities!

MRSA in UK Pigs." Why didn't you publish?"

One of the big questions to be asked at the eventual enquiry into the worst scandal of the 21st century will be:

"Why didn't you publish?"

We have known since 2000 that much PR pap and veterinary disinformation has been flooding the livestock health sector via media releases and private briefings.

Much will have to be justified.

But the biggest question now when MRSA st398 has been admitted in English pigs after a decade and more of denial is:

"Why didn't you publish?"

It couldn't be the drug advertising revenue and the promise of ill-earned honours for the editor, could it?

Or maybe the threat of Defra and the front organisations of Britain's Agricultural ministry and drug dealing cronies removing you from their media release distribution list?

Anyway, as the children and old people die in MRSA superbug riddled hospitals the question will be asked:

"Why didn't you publish?"

Pig MRSA in England - the news spreads.

At last, Britain's number one farming magazine publishes. The fact of publication, albeit late, is more important than the content, which incidentally seems less pro-Defra, Britain's corrupt agricultural ministry, than normal.

So presumably every farm and farm worker in Britain has the story by the time the print edition of the magazine appears next weekend.

Defra's massive public relations machine is losing control of the information flow.

Fwi report in full is here, be sure to read.

Livestock strain of MRSA found in pigs in England

Philip Case

Monday 9 February 2015 8:55

Government scientists have reported the first ever cases of
livestock-associated MRSA in pigs in England.

England - Soil Association on discovery of MRSA in English Pigs

The news of MRSA in pigs in England has reached the important Soil Association and they are reacting strongly.

I'm not a member, a fan or endorse all of their facts, but welcome their outspoken comments and the drive towards finding solutions.

Just a quote of some of  the detail I support. You can find the full article here.

MRSA found in pigs in England as European research shows threat of pandemic spread in humans is increasing

06 February 2015
Government scientists have reported the first-ever cases of livestock-associated MRSA in pigs in England [1].

The finding comes just weeks after scientists in Europe, where MRSA has been present in pigs for a decade, reported that the same strain of livestock-associated MRSA is evolving to become a serious hazard for humans [2]...

...Cóilín Nunan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: "In 2007...

... we called for all imported pigs from MRSA-positive countries to be tested and for the use of the antibiotics most likely to select for the bacteria to be restricted. But Defra refused to take action and now that MRSA-free status has been lost. It's scandalous that Defra still isn't doing any proper MRSA surveillance of British pigs.

Defra's inactivity on this issue for years has allowed this situation to develop. These cases are likely to only be the tip of the iceberg. MRSA may already be much more widespread in British pigs since most pigs with the bacteria show no visible infection."...

MRSA in pigs - the next step - Scotland

After many years we finally have an admission that pig MRSA is found in pigs on the island of Great Britain and specifically in East Anglia: the official reports say 'Eastern England.'

That is the major collapse of a long standing cover-up and conspiracy, but we now need more information.

We need a full admission that MRSA is found in all parts of England and Wales. Wales is not so important as a pig farming area except as a possible source of "clean"pigs.

Once we have this, we need confirmation that it is also found in the other major remaining part of Great Britain - Scotland (we will revert to this later in this post.)

We know it is found in Ireland: in Northern Ireland. That was recently admitted and obviously southern Ireland, the Republic, a major pig farming area will also have the problem. That is widely accepted, but not actually admitted.

The islands comprising what is usually called Great Britain by the British, a name sometimes rejected by some of the Irish, form a single unit for many purposes. Pig disease ought to be handled together to everyone's benefit. There is no point in cleaning up a single part and allowing disease back in from another.

The most immediate need is for a prompt admission of MRSA in Scottish pigs. It has home rule for many and increasing purposes, and may not be considered covered by the admission from London.

The Scots could soldier on ignoring the issue, but they will be doing that in the period running up to an unusual general election. If they are caught hiding up MRSA in their pigs, there will be hell to pay.

So expecting an immediate open and honest admission from Scotland, we can go on to quantify the problem right across Britain.

The government veterinarians and others do know, but we have to make sure they admit the scale of the problem, whilst a full urgent survey is under way.

The significance is that we can immediately start to protect the hospitals, be they in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland.

Most continental hospitals have much more sophisticated systems for recognising potential human carriers and risks from pig MRSA. Britain and Ireland seem to have nothing. That costs human lives.

That was the price of porcine MRSA denial for over a decade.

We are in a race to catch up.

Mrsa st398 in British Pigs - It is official

Mrs Pat tells me “if you dare gloat, I will kill you.”

Would I ever even think of doing something so crass and common?

Well I might, but she is a formidable lady, totally underestimated by Maff-Defra: Britain's disgraced and corrupt agricultural ministry,

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/6/151.3.extract

Livestock-associated MRSA detected in pigs in Great Britain

1.     Simon Hall1, 

2.     Angela Kearns2 and 

3.     Suzanne Eckford3

+Author Affiliations

1.        ¹Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB

2.        ²Staphylococcus Reference Service, Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit, Public Health England, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ

3.        ³Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3LS

1.     e-mail: removed

FOLLOWING the recent report of the detection of livestock-associated meticillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in a pig from a farm in Northern Ireland (Hartley and others 2014), we wish to report the isolation of LA-MRSA from piglets with skin disease from a breeder-finisher farm, located in eastern England.

Two 10-day-old piglets with skin lesions were submitted to an APHA veterinary investigation centre on December 30, 2014. Eleven litters were affected and, of 60 piglets with the condition, six died. Treatment had been with parenteral amoxicillin. Both piglets submitted for investigation had been euthanased and had multifocal skin lesions ranging from 2 mm to 20 mm in size, with an overlying, crusting, fibrinous exudate. Gross lesions were similar to those observed in exudative epidermitis (known as greasy pig disease). Cultures of affected areas of skin from both piglets and of lung from one piglet yielded profuse growths of S aureus, which were positive for the altered penicillin-binding protein (PBP2') by …

[Full text of this article]

Britain finally owns up to MRSA in pigs in East Anglia

I am delighted to inform you that Britain has finally owned up to pig MRSA in pigs in East Anglia.

My fifteen year campaign to expose the cover-up is drawing to a close.

I will now concentrate my energies on protecting the innocent, whoever and wherever they are and encouraging solutions.

I would like to thank all those who offered me help and kindness through so many years in the shadow of the valley of death.

National Pig Association news report here.

Be sure to read in full

LA-MRSA found in British pig herd

By Digby Scott

Thursday February 5, 2015

Livestock-associated MRSA has been identified in two piglets in eastern England by Defra's Animal and Plant Health Agency...