We are now getting exactly the same points made
in different words from a wide variety of respectable sources, this one from
within the UK.
Defra, Britain's agricultural ministry, are going to have another massive problem shortly.
Everyone is going to want to know why, almost alone in the
world, Britain’s pigs do not have MRSA st398, according to Defra’s
veterinarians.
They will then check this blog and/or uk.business.agriculture
and find that the strange absence has been noted many times over the past
decade.
They will draw their own conclusions.
'The Conversation' report in full here
…In 2005 a new type of MRSA associated with livestock called
ST398 was
identified. Initially identified in French pig farmers, it has now been widely
reported in pigs and other livestock, and in farmers, vets and slaughterhouse
workers in contact with livestock. It’s also been found in cow’s milk in the UK
(don’t worry: the pasteurisation will kill it). Small outbreaks of ST398 have
taken place in the wider human population, such as at a nursing home and a hospital ward in the
Netherlands. The success of ST398 as a pathogen has actually increased the
overall burden of MRSA infections in some countries in Europe.
Of particular importance is that many ST398 strains found in
livestock and people in close contact with livestock are resistant to
tetracycline antibiotics, widely used in livestock production. Strains of the
bacteria isolated from people with no contact with livestock are not resistant
to tetracycline. This suggests the resistance to the drug stems from its
farming use…
…One thing is clear from our current understanding of
zoonotic infections past and present, is that human and animal health are
inherently linked.
