MRSA Found in Pigs in England

10 Feb 2015 --- The UK Government’s scientists have reported the first ever cases of MRSA in pigs in England. The skin disease was confirmed in piglets at a farm in east England, according to Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

It is the second case of livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) confirmed in the UK; the disease was first discovered on a pig from a farm in Northern Ireland at the end of last year. 

This recent discovery coincides with the news that scientists in Europe have reported that the same strain of MRSA (which has long been present in pigs in Europe), is evolving to potentially prove hazardous to humans. 

Livestock-associated MRSA has existed in Europe since 2005 when it was first discovered in the Netherlands. This strain of MRSA can transmit to humans, and the majority of cases tend to be farmers and farm workers. But in the last year scientists in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark have all reported of more cases of this MRSA in people who have no direct livestock contact. This suggests that the strain is evolving to spread much more easily from human to human. 

Scientists in Europe have said that the strain is now “a serious hazard to humans”, and it had “the capacity for pandemic spread in humans”. 

“The latest European research shows that livestock-associated MRSA could become a much bigger public-health threat unless decisive action is taken,” said Cóilin Nunan, principal scientific advisor to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics. 

“In the Netherlands they implemented large reductions in farm antibiotic use and the number of human cases of livestock-associated MRSA is now falling. This shows that restricting farm antibiotic use can have real benefits for human health. The British government should urgently take similar action here.”

Unlike most European countries, the UK has not carried out any active MRSA surveillance of its pig and poultry population, other than an EU-mandated survey of pigs in 2008. 

“In 2007, when Britain’s pug herd was MRSA-free, we called for all imported pigs from MRSA-positive countries to be tested and for the use of the antibiotics most likely to select for the bacteria to be restricted. 

“But Defra refused to take action and now that MRSA-free status has been lost.”