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Wednesday 21 September 2011

MRSA in Pigs and Humans - no comfort

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A weblog from an important pig farming magazine, Pig Progress, published in the Netherlands, but with a strong British veterinary presence, highlights the rift between Continental European and American pig industries on the link between antibiotic use in pigs and human health.

The Europeans are convinced that the data shows dangers to humans, the American pig veterinarians remain in denial.

The Continental Europeans and Americans have admitted MRSA in their pigs and pork: the Dutch and Danes leading the way.

Britain remains covering it up, still sticking to the official line that British pigs and pork do not have or carry MRSA, despite having done no credible tests.

Britain remains a black hole of veterinary ignorance and deceit, missing and faked data and, ominously, organised crime. Cover-ups and intimidation are still the order of the day.

British hospitals, unlike American and Continental European facilities, remain ignorant of the risks and unprotected from animal derived MRSA and antibiotic disease. 

The British media won't publish, too dependant on Defra, Britain's hopeless agricultural ministry and their powerful vets, to dare to expose the scandals.

The United Kingdom is now so badly out of step with the rest of the western world, that the cover-ups can't last. The scandal will end in a blaze of world-wide publicity and investigations.


Read the full weblog here




WEBLOGS

A little word of comfort

//19 Sep 2011

Author: Vincent ter Beek

Last Friday, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) sent out a brief statement on antibiotics, from its president Doug Wolf. His tone of voice was comforting – the NPPC knew.

Wolf commented on a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on antibtiotic resistance, which stated that no direct relationship had been found linking antibiotic use in food animals to antibiotic resistance in humans..."there isn’t even adequate data to conduct a study." 

... In Europe, different conclusions have been drawn from this.

In Europe, the possibility of a link has led to very strong reactions. EU-wide there has been a a ban of antimicrobials as growth promoter since 2006, and Denmark and the Netherlands are even trying to clamp down the usage of antimicrobials for medication as well.

President Wolf’s tone of voice, however, was one of comfort and reassurance... 

It’s exactly that reassuring tone of voice that makes me feel a bit funny... 

...But it is a fact that the use of antibiotics in food animals can lead to antibiotic resistance in food animals. That, I feel, may need more than just words of comfort.