Ra 4 Food - Health and Nutritional Tips

British people have been infected for the first time by an animal variant of MRSA, the hospital superbug that infects more than 4,000 patients a year.

Yesterday scientist’s revealed that three patients in separate hospitals were infected with the ST389 strain, which is found in factory-farmed pigs in the Netherlands. There are now concerns that the superbug has entered the food chain because none of the infected were closely associated with the farm animals. 

Most cases of the ST398 strain have been spread to people who have come in to close contact with animals, namely farmers, vets and abattoir workers, but cooks may get infected if bacteria were to enter a cut or wound.

MRSA has previously been found in pigs in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Germany and in other farm animals such as chickens and cattle. The strain has caused skin infections, rare heart and bone problems in humans and is believed to have come from pigs that were fed antibiotics to spur growth and protect them from disease. A survey by the Dutch authorities in 2006 found traces of the bug in 20 per cent of pork products, 21 per cent of chicken meat and 3 per cent of beef.  

As of yet no cases have been found in UK livestock but the Soil Association has called for Britain to start testing meat because two thirds of Britain’s pork comes from Holland.

The Food Standards Agency said that the bug should be eradicated by good hygiene and urged people to wash their hands and surfaces after handling meat. 

Dr Giles Edwards, director of the Scottish MRSA Reference Laboratory, said: “A lot of the patients who got this infection in Holland and Canada have been people who work with animals, such as farmers and vets. But none of the three individuals in Scotland have been in contact with animals, not that we could find.”

The Soil Association want the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to publish interim results of its testing for MRSA in pigs. Policy adviser Richard Young said, “We suspect that MRSA has now been found in British pigs.” 

“ST398 is no more serious than existing strains of MRSA, but it is resistant to different antibiotics, and where it is present it will make it harder for doctors to select an effective drug quickly. In some cases, that could be the difference between life and death.”

The Food Standards Agency, however said it did “not see serious food safety issues”. It advised cooks to wash their hands thoroughly; to cook and chill food properly; and avoid cross-contamination. 

All three patients, who were being treated in at least two different Scottish hospitals, recovered.