Funny you should say that. I had a similar question, drawing an analogy with the problem of identity theft, a completely different topic but with possible parallels. Many individuals have been warned about protecting their own identities, not carelessly providing that information to other parties. Yet, from time to time, you read about huge financial institutions whose computer databases (with millions of complete financial records stored on individuals) becoming hacked, and the data stolen. Is it the individual or the large financial institution that is more to blame for identify theft?

What also struck me about the research for this post, is the practice of using antibiotics, not for therapeutic proposes (to treat animal illnesses), but for preventing disease (before they occur), and sub-therapeutic use to increase the bulk of the animals. None of these issues were investigated in Tara Smith’s study (that was outside their scope) but it does make me wonder how much non-therapeutic use occurs, and how it may be stopped.

In the “labels” column (lower right), choose “ST398″ for a search confined only to that strain, or “food” or “animals” for wider searches.

My mother, who is seven years into Alzheimer’s, lives in a care facility. This January, the staff noticed a strange sore that turned out to be MRSA. She was hospitalized for a few days, to test for sepsis and treat the growing wound.

After two months, the sore is healing, though tests show she still has MRSA–I think the term used was “colonized.” We’ve been told it could be nothing to worry about, or that it may resurface later. If it returns, it may not be something she can fight.

In the past decade, I’ve noticed that my doctors don’t hand out antibiotics very easily–at least compared with how my sinusitis was treated fifteen years ago. But what good does that do if we don’t look at the whole picture, such as the use of antibiotics in pig farms?

Alas, however, the risks are real enough, both sides of the Atlantic now.

I have spent almost decade on this disaster, day after day: there at the beginning, with pigs and in pig country when the horror story started.

We decided on a self-sufficient lifestyle and walked into a nightmare.

There is little doubt that MRSA in pigs has been leaking into the hospitals for some years.

There was a nasty mutation to a porcine circovirus in Britain in 1999 which caused an epidemic that required huge quantities of antibiotics to handle the consequences.

MRSA in pigs was the result, usually the ST398 strain.

The Dutch picked up the problem about four years ago and commendably made everything they knew public.

Both circovirus and MRSA epidemics have now travelled the world along with accompanying cover-ups. It is quite a nasty situation – now coming to light in the USA.

MRSA st398, mutated circovirus and various other unpleasant zoonotic diseases have now reached American pig farms.

The people exposing the scandal in the US are to be commended.
I travelled in 2005, at my own expense, to warn your people of problems on the horizen, but obviously was ignored.

I have extensive records available to anyone researching the link and can often answer general questions quickly and accurately.

In view of your well balanced approach, I imagine that you may feel difficult to publish my comments on your blog. I can understand that. If so, keep my comments by you for use later.

–
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
http://www.go-self-sufficient.com and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com