Re: MRSA - the superbug associated with lax standards of cleanliness in hospitals.
Osvald Hotz De Baar
Jones) wrote:
>On Sun, 9 Mar 2008 22:19:15 -0000, "Pat Gardiner"
><patga...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>Pat's Note: You have to realise the impact of pigs being identified as a
>>source of human MRSA in Britain.
>
>It's hard to see how MRSA could jump from pigs to hospitals, without
>some really serious lapses in basic hygiene by hospital staff. You may
>like to consider 3 other species that are known carriers and that the
>public have far more contact with. Dogs, cats and rabbits!
>
>As a farmer I wash and change between handling animals and visiting
>hospital, how many pet owners do the same thing?
>
>I suspect you can't see the wood for the trees ;)
>
>MRSA is everywhere and it needs to be dealt with where folks are
>vulnerable, not just in animals at individual species level.
No it needs to be dealt with any where it occurs and in particular at
source.
Meat is rapidly becoming a serious danger to our health and that's
before we even get to eat it. Is it really worth dying for when we
have so many alternatives to meat these days, most of which your
average consumer couldn't tell the difference.
Pigs to humans: alert over new MRSA strain· Half of all Dutch farmers
now carry superbug
http://tinyurl.com/2lnthr
· Urgent call to screen UK lifestock and test imports
Ian Sample Science correspondent The Guardian, Monday June 25 2007
Article historyAbout this articleClose This article appeared in the
Guardian on Monday June 25 2007 on p7 of the UK news and analysis
section. It was last updated at 08:56 on June 25 2007. Campaigners
today call for urgent tests on the UK's farm animals after the
emergence of a new strain of MRSA which has spread rapidly among
farmers in Europe, causing an array of serious infections.
The drug-resistant bug is thought to have arisen in pigs fed
antibiotics to protect them against farm-borne diseases and boost
their growth. The emergence of the new strain backs up fears voiced by
some experts that the heavy use of antibiotics in farm animals could
lead to a drug-resistant bug capable of infecting humans.
The strain of staphylococcus aureus, known as ST398, is resistant to
commonly used antibiotics and has caused skin infections and rare
heart and bone infections in patients in the Netherlands, Denmark,
Belgium and Germany.
A report published today by the organic farming organisation, the Soil
Association, says the superbug represents a new threat to human
health. It urged the government to introduce immediate screening of
national livestock and strict testing of imported meat products and
animals from affected regions, to prevent the superbug spreading to
Britain. The report reveals the swift spread of the new MRSA strain,
which tested positive in 39% of pigs at nine abattoirs in the
Netherlands last year. A further survey identified the strain in 13%
of Dutch calves.
Medical officials found that 50% of Dutch farmers were carriers of the
strain, a prevalence 1,500 times higher than the rest of the
population. In one pig farming region 80% of all MRSA cases are now
caused by the farm animal strain. A survey by the Dutch food and
consumer product safety authority last year found traces of the bug in
20% of pork meat, 21% of chicken meat and 3% of beef.
"It's going to get to the UK sooner or later, but the government is
doing nothing to look for it," said Richard Young, a co-author of the
report. "We should be doing routine surveillance on imported meat and
imported live chicks."
The document also recommends a screening programme for farmers coming
from European countries before they work with live animals.
"It's a new strain we should be looking for here," said Mark Enright,
an expert in MRSA at Imperial College, London. "The excessive use of
antibiotics is always a bad idea. If you do that for long enough,
inevitably one of the strains that emerges will be good at causing
disease in humans."
The new strain was first detected two years ago in the Netherlands.
A Defra spokesman said the government had commissioned research into
the spread of the infection among animals. "There is no consensus on
whether animals became infected from other animals or humans,
therefore the identification of MRSA in animals cannot be conclusively
linked to the use of antibiotics in animals."
Osvald Hotz De Baar
Jones) wrote:
>On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:19:08 -0000, "Pat Gardiner"
><patga...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Now can we agree that if there is any chance that Britain's pigs have MRSA,
>>the right thing is for the governmen to test them?
>
>IMO it could only be of value if there was a workable strategy to use
>the results to reduce the incidence of MRSA. Without such a strategy
>it would be as big and shameful a waste of resources as the current
>TB debacle. Testing for the sake of it would achieve nothing.
It would highlight the stupidity of breeding animals in filthy
conditions and putting the world in danger. MRSA/Bird Flu etc
>We have already have MRSA in the environment and the community, it's
>hard to see how we can get rid of it.
Get rid of the conditions that cause it and get rid of the conditions
that cause us to be incapable of fighting it.
Animal Rights advocates have been saying for years the dangerous path
we are treading in feeding people disease ridden animals pumped full
of drugs like antibiotics.
> Surely it's wiser to target
>resources at protecting people who are vulnerable when and where they
>really need it?
That's a stupid conclusion and you represent *the gang* quite well
these days and it never ceases to amaze me just how stupid you lot
really are. You certainly pulled the wool over our eyes and we gave
you far more credit than you ever deserved.
Clue: Where do sick people go?