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Sunday 29 March 2009

MRSA St398 News Breaks in Britain.

Pat's Note: Whilst I certainly do not approve of "blaming the Dutch"and the report has factual errors and repeats blatant lies, that does not matter.

Most of the errors can be corrected by reference to the newsgroup uk.business.agriculture and its archives.

It will not take long for Joe Public to wonder why Britain is refusing to test its pigs at the same time as blaming the Dutch.

It will take the Dutch even less time to start making formal complaints against the British Government.

Britain's bent vets are on their way to prosecution and prison.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/91887/Farm-bug-found-in-hospitals

FARM BUG FOUND IN HOSPITALS

BAD BACON: The MRSA found in Dutch pigs has infected farmers and others
Sunday March 29,2009

By Lucy Johnston and Martyn Halle

A DEADLY new form of MRSA is believed to be spreading from farm animals to humans - already the bacteria has been found in hospitals abroad.

It is the first time the bug has spread in this way and experts believe excessive use of antibiotics in factory-farmed animals may be behind its development.

"Farm animal" MRSA, as it is known, can cause a raft of illnesses including skin infections, pneumonia, bone infections and endocarditis.

The revelation raises fears about viruses and bugs moving from animals to humans in the way that Avian flu infected humans from poultry.

The new MRSA bug, known as ST398, could reach hospitals in the UK,causing serious illness and death among vulnerable patients.

The bug is not only in the animals but also in slaughtered meat.Scientists believe one way it could get into the UK is through contact with raw meat during food preparation.

ST398 was discovered in Holland when factory-farmed pigs passed it onto pig farmers. Now Government experts are carrying out tests to see if ST398 is in the UK's pig population.

Doctors in Holland also found it had spread to patients who had no contact with pig farming or farmers. In one area of Holland 60 percent of all MRSA cases are testing positive for the new strain.

Although ST398 has only recently been discovered it now causes almost one in three cases of MRSA treated in Dutch animal-to-human transmission have been found hospitals. Europe. And scientists have discovered the bug?Cases?of?throughout in other animals including beef cattle and factory-farmed chickens.

There are fears the bug may have already infected people in the UK although so far there have been no reports of it in UK hospitals.

Approximately 60 per cent of the pig meat eaten in the UK comes from the Netherlands and other countries. A Dutch Government study has found that about 10 per cent of slaughtered Dutch pork is contaminated with MRSA. The bug is caused by the over-use of antibiotics in intensive farming.The worry is that its over-use in animals could cause major problems for people.

Dr Mark Enwright, a consultant microbiologist at Imperial London,said: "The disturbing College leapt from animals into humans.?thing about this new strain is that it has "Because this is a new phenomenon we can't be sure how serious a problem it poses to humans. So we will have to be vigilant and hope it doesn't spread."

Around 60 per cent of all pigs in Holland are infected with ST398 and between 30 and 40 per cent of all pig farmers carry the bug - either on their skin or in their respiratory tract.

Most farmers are carriers of the bug and have no symptoms but they cans spread the bug to other people and can become infected themselves if they undergo surgery and the bug moves from their skin into a surgical wound.

Coilin Nunan, a spokesman for Soil Association, said: "It has probably got into the UK via raw pork or through our importation of Dutch bacon."

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said:"We have carried out a study of our pig population and are awaiting the results."

-- Regards Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/