Biological Hazard - Denmark, [The area was not defined.]

Earth Watch Report  -  Biological Hazards

Scanning electron micrograph of neutrophil ingesting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Credit: NIAID   National Institutes of Health.
NIAID/NIH
Wikimedia.org

.....

May 13 2014 03:04 AM

Biological Hazard

Denmark

[The area was not defined.]

......

RSOE EDIS

Biological Hazard in Denmark on Tuesday, 13 May, 2014 at 03:04 (03:04 AM) UTC.

Description A troubling and also kind of odd story came out of Denmark this weekend. In a court proceeding, a microbiologist has disclosed that three residents of the country who had no known connection to farming died of MRSA infections caused by ST398, the livestock-associated strain of drug-resistant staph that first appeared among pig farmers in the Netherlands in 2004 and has since moved through Europe, Canada and the United States. If the report is correct - and sources have told me it is, but I've seen no data to confirm it - it reinforces the concern that bacteria which become resistant because of antibiotic use on farms can move off farms and affect the health of people who have no connection to farming. Livestock MRSA has always one of the best cases for establishing that, because the drug to which it showed the greatest resistance, tetracycline, wasn't used against human MRSA in the Netherlands, but was used routinely on farms - so the only place the strain could have picked up its unique resistance pattern was in pigs. (Here's my long archive of posts on pig MRSA, dating back to my book Superbug where the story was told for the first time.) Just to get them high up, here are some Danish news sources; this sees to have been a widely covered story. Danish isn't one of my languages, so I've relied on Google Translate - not the best practice, but there's enough agreement among the stories that I am comfortable with it in this case. Biohazard name: MRSA (pig, human) Biohazard level: 3/4 Hight Biohazard desc.: Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus (smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level. Symptoms: Status: confirmed

.....
 

Denmark: Three Deaths from Drug-Resistant “Pig MRSA”

• By Maryn McKenna
• 05.12.14  |
• 12:29 pm  |

A troubling and also kind of odd story came out of Denmark this weekend. In a court proceeding, a microbiologist has disclosed that three residents of the country who had no known connection to farming died of MRSA infections caused by ST398, the livestock-associated strain of drug-resistant staph that first appeared among pig farmers in the Netherlands in 2004 and has since moved through Europe, Canada and the United States.
If the report is correct — and sources have told me it is, but I’ve seen no data to confirm it — it reinforces the concern that bacteria which become resistant because of antibiotic use on farms can move off farms and affect the health of people who have no connection to farming.
Livestock MRSA has always one of the best cases for establishing that, because the drug to which it showed the greatest resistance, tetracycline, wasn’t used against human MRSA in the Netherlands, but was used routinely on farms — so the only place the strain could have picked up its unique resistance pattern was in pigs. (Here’s my long archive of posts on pig MRSA, dating back to my book Superbug where the story was told for the first time.)

Just to get them high up, here are some Danish news sources; this sees to have been a widely covered story. Danish isn’t one of my languages, so I’ve relied on Google Translate — not the best practice, but there’s enough agreement among the stories that I am comfortable with it in this case.

• The Information: “Filthy use of antibiotics”
• Kvalls Posten: “Resistant swine bacterium has killed three Danes”
• DR DK: “Politicians are worried about swine bacteria”
• Avisen: “Three Danes die of swine bacteria”
• Ekstra Bladet: “Three died from killer bacteria from pigs”
• Fyens: “University hospital physician: Three died of swine bacteria”

Read More Here
.....

Related articles

• Denmark: Three Deaths from Drug-Resistant "Pig MRSA"
• Humans and companion animals harbor the same types of MRSA infections
• Humans And Pets May Carry Similar Strains Of MRSA
• Pig-Manure Fertilizer Linked to Human MRSA Infections
• Workers at industrial farms carry drug-resistant bacteria associated with livestock

MRSA traced back to cattle infections

Featured Article
Academic Journal

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Veterinary
Article Date: 16 Aug 2013 - 8:00 PDT

A new study has suggested that a type of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) found in humans may have originated from cattle as far back as 40 years or more.

Are they the culprits? Researchers say a type of MRSA in humans may have come from cows.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, analyzed around 40 strains of the bacterium - Staphylococcus aureus, which is capable of building up methicillin antibiotic resistance, leading to MRSA.
Staphylococcus aureus spreads easily in humans through skin-to-skin contact.
The researchers found that at least two genetic subtypes of the bacterium, already present in widespread human MRSA, could be traced back to cattle.
The study, published in the journal mBio, suggests that the bacterium may have passed from cattle to humans by way of direct contact, possibly through people working with farm animals.
Professor Ross Fitzgerald of the Roslin Institute at the university and lead study author, said:

"Human infections caused by bacteria being transmitted directly from livestock are well known to occur.
However, this is the first clear genetic evidence of subtypes of Staph. aureus which jumped from cattle and developed the capacity to transmit widely among human populations."

Read More Here

Related articles

• Superbug MRSA began in cattle, jumped to humans
• Superbug MRSA Originated from Cattle
• Cattle can be a source of MRSA in people, scientists find
• Scottish News: Livestock source of MRSA: Report
• MRSA strain in humans originally came from cattle
• MRSA strain in humans originally came from cattle
• MRSA strain in humans originally came from cattle
• MRSA strain in humans originally came from cattle, research says
• Cattle May Be Source of Human MRSA Strain, Scientists Suggest