In the Netherlands, MRSA ST398 has emerged in hospitals and human carriers have been associated with exposure to pigs and cattle, explain van Giessen and co-authors. They add that high prevalence of MRSA ST398 in pigs and pig farmers have been determined and the transmission routes of MRSA on pig farms need to be elucidated.
In the south of the Netherlands, in recent years, the black rat (Rattus rattus) has emerged as a prominent rodent on livestock farms.
From March to May 2008, a survey on MRSA in rats living on livestock farms in the south of the Netherlands and the north of Belgium was conducted. In total, 40 black rats (R. rattus) and three brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) were collected from 12 farms including five pig farms, five poultry farms, one mixed pig and veal farm and one goat farm.
MRSA ST398 was detected in black rats captured at two of the five pig farms as well as in a black rat living on the mixed pig and veal farm.
From one black rat captured at another pig farm, MRSA ST 97 was isolated.
Considering the behaviour of rats on livestock farms, it is concluded that rats might play a role in the spread and persistence of MRSA on pig farms, conclude van de Giessen and co-authors.
via Holland – Rats are a plague to pig farmers.
There is a concern that the numbers of MRSA or other antimicrobial-resistant bacteria might increase further when human isolates become established in animals, as this can amplify the numbers of such bacteria by dissemination within animal groups with subsequent spread back to humans. Certain antimicrobials have been implicated in the selection of MRSA, ESBL-producing bacteria and predisposition to infection by C. difficile. Guidelines for treatment and prevention of infections by MRSA, ESBL-producing bacteria and C. difficile were discussed and evidence-based policies were recommended for both humans and animals.
via Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in animals and man: prescribing, practices and policies « InfectoNews – Jorge Omar Calabrese.
Writing in Clinical Microbiology and Infection, Dr. Jan Kluytmans of Amphia Hospital in Breda, the Netherlands, recounts the identification of MRSA multilocus sequence type 398 (or ST398). On Dutch farms, from 23% to 81% of pigs have been found colonized with the strain, carrying it without being made sick by it. When farmers on those farms were surveyed, they were colonized with an identical strain.
ST398 appears to be less virulent and less transmissible than the community-associated strains of MRSA common in the United States, which have very low prevalence in the Netherlands. “The impact of ST398 on [human] public health may be limited,” Kluytmans writes, “but close monitoring of its evolution over time will be required.”
The strain’s presence in meat after slaughter—it has been found in beef, lamb, and chicken and other birds in addition to pork—raises uncertainties over the degree of its movement into the food chain. While staph species are known to cause staphylococcal food poisoning, MRSA ST398 to date lacks the toxin-producing genes that would produce similar illness.
The chief concern, Kluytmans writes, is the possibility that people preparing MRSA-contaminated meat for cooking will become colonized with the organism on their skin or mucous membranes, moving it into a broad new ecological niche and positioning it as a possible cause of further human infections.
via CIDRAP >> MRSA clone in food animals worrisome, expert says.
MRSA has been found in pigs in 17 of 24 EU member states – but not the UK, according to the first Europe-wide survey of the bacteria.
The highest level of MRSA positives was in Spain, in 51 per cent of breeding pig herds, followed by Germany, Belgium and Italy, research published by the European Food Safety Authority EFSA showed.
Despite the failure to find the ‘superbug’ in Britain, the Soil Association is calling for improved testing claiming it could ‘easily have been missed due to a poor testing method which had not been checked before the survey began’.
via Fears over rising MRSA levels in EU pigs | News | Farmers Guardian.
The survey was carried out in 24 Member States, 17 of which found some type of MRSA in their holdings with breeding pigs and 7 none at all. On average, different types of MRSA were found in 1 out of 4 holdings with breeding pigs across the EU, but the survey also says that figures vary greatly between Member States. MRSA ST398 was the most reported type of MRSA among the holdings with breeding pigs in the EU; some Member States also reported other types, but their prevalence was much lower.
MRSA is a major concern for public health and its various types are recognised as an important cause of hospital-acquired (or nosocomial) infections in humans. The specific type MRSA ST398 has been identified in some domestic animals and is considered an occupational health risk for farmers, veterinarians and their families, who may become exposed to it through direct or indirect contact with these animals.
In an opinion published earlier this year, EFSA’s Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) Panel assessed the public health significance of MRSA in animals and food and concluded that the MRSA ST398 strain is less likely to contribute to the spread of MRSA in hospitals than other types carried by humans. The Panel also said that there is currently no evidence that MRSA ST398 can be transmitted to humans by eating or handling contaminated food.
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The debate took its latest turn on Tuesday, when U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, introduced legislation that would require drug manufacturers to go through a new approval process to ensure that antibiotics used in farm animals don’t pose a danger to human health. Slaughter said mounting evidence showed that routine antibiotic use in factory farms was leading to drug resistance in humans. Many medical professionals fear the development of a so-called lethal “superbug” resistant to treatment.
The pharmaceutical and agricultural industries have pushed against similar efforts in the past. Pork producers say that antibiotics are a necessary part of good farm management and that the health risk is minimal.
The legislation Slaughter introduced is similar to others that have failed in recent years. The bill aims to curtail the use of antibiotics for everyday use. Critics say the drugs fatten the animals more quickly and compensate for crowded conditions in large-scale operations. Slaughter said 84 percent of feedlots administered antibiotics in feed or water. “It makes absolutely no sense to hand this to animals that aren’t sick,” she said. “We’re misusing one of the best scientific tools we have.”
via 03/18/2009 – Antibiotics for livestock are target of bill in House – STLtoday.com.
The full details of this case are in a members only site – but this and recent research in Manhattan indicates the spread of ST398 in the community
Methicillin-resistant S. aureus MRSA poses a serious threat to public health, since few drugs, or in the currently rare cases of vancomycin-resistant MRSA, no drugs are able to treat these infections. The arrival this week of ST398 at a US hospital signals the beginning of a potential clone war with the better recognized USA 200 or USA 300 MRSA clones.
via ST398 MRSA Clone Arrives in US Hospital This Week.
The Swiss Veterinary Office has confirmed the presence of bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a couple of Swiss farms. This is the first time that this bacterium was detected in Switzerland.
Bacteria have been discovered by researchers at the University and the Institute Laussanne Galli-Valerio, after sampling more than 100 farms. Pathogens have been detected in pigs and two cows that showed symptoms of inflammation of the udders. Also we have found that three people were carrying the bacteria, though they have not shown symptoms.
The strain detected is the ST398, which is resistant to the antibiotic group lactamina-beta, which is widely used in human medicine like penicillin and cephalosporins.
The MRSA was first detected in animals in 1972. We have already detected the presence of MRSA on farms in the U.S., Canada, Germany and Holland.
The food chain situation with MRSA examined
We don’t add antibiotics to baby food and Cocoa Puffs so that children get fewer ear infections. That’s because we understand that the overuse of antibiotics is already creating “superbugs” resistant to medication. Yet we continue to allow agribusiness companies to add antibiotics to animal feed so that piglets stay healthy and don’t get ear infections. Seventy percent of all antibiotics in the United States go to healthy livestock, according to a careful study by the Union of Concerned Scientists — and that’s one reason we’re seeing the rise of pathogens that defy antibiotics.
via Op-Ed Columnist – Pathogens in Our Pork – NYTimes.com.
