via Livestock-associated MRSA in dogs : Worms and Germs Blog.

Overall, almost 16% of the study participants, who lived and worked on veal calf farms, carried MRSA. By comparison, the prevalence of MRSA in the Dutch community is estimated to be 1%.

The prevalence of MRSA among the calves was almost double that of the people studied, with 28% of the 2150 calves tested found to be carrying the bug. Almost all these bacteria were of the ST398 strain, and MRSA was more often found in calves that had been treated with antibiotics.

“This is the strongest evidence of a direct relationship between antibiotic use in animals and transfer of antimicrobial resistant organisms to humans at present,” write Graveland and colleagues.

via News.

via News.

via PFGE diversity within the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clonal lineage ST398 – 7thSpace Interactive.

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.

via Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in animals and man: prescribing, practices and policies « InfectoNews – Jorge Omar Calabrese.

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.

via Meat International – Food Safety: MRSA widespread in German pig breeding stocks.

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.

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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