MRSA widespread in European pigs

The first Europe-wide testing of pig herds for MRSA has found that the bacterium is present in 17 of 24 member states tested. The study revealed that MRSA was not found in any British pigs tested, but the Soil Association is calling for improved testing because it could easily have been missed due to a poor testing method which had not been checked before the survey began. The testing method used pooled dust samples from pig pens, instead of nasal swabs taken from the pigs themselves. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which published the research, has admitted the method had a “lack of sensitivity” and that “the absence of any MRSA from the tested samples in this survey does not imply that a member state is MRSA-free in the holding types investigated”, the Soil Association reports.

Farm-animal MRSA is a new strain which has developed due to the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms. It can spread from farm animals to humans, where it has already caused many life-threatening conditions including skin, blood, heart and bone infections, as well as pneumonia. It has also caused at least one fatality. In the Netherlands, the proportion of human MRSA cases of farm-animal origin rose from 0 % in 2002 to 40 % in 2008. Those most at risk are people who work with colonised farm animals, and their families. However, some cases have already occurred in the wider community, including in Scotland. The much lower level of antibiotic use on organic farms is likely to minimise the chances of MRSA emerging on these farms. The UK also imports live chicks and turkey poultry from countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, which have already found MRSA in their poultry, but no testing of British poultry has yet been carried out.

Soil Association