Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Superbug linked to antibiotic used on farms
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/77371.html

The use of antibiotics on farms should be reduced because of suspected
links with a superbug in humans, an organic food group claimed yesterday.

A virulent strain of E-coli which has killed at least 57 people in the UK
has been found on 10 cattle farms in the UK since 2004. Meanwhile, human
cases of the superbug are rising fast, according to Health Protection
Scotland. In 1998, there were 28 cases of this type of E-coli in Scotland,
but in 2005 the number rose to 1067.

The bacterium causes blood poisoning and urinary tract infections, and is
potentially fatal to the elderly and hospital patients. The strain produces
enzymes called extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs) which stop many
drugs working, including penicillin. Most people contract ESBL in hospital,
but concerns have been raised that the infection may spread through meat
and milk products.

Now the Soil Association says it believes the use of certain antibiotics in
farm animals is one factor in creating the drug-resistant strain of E-coli.
It is calling on the government to reduce the use of the relevant
antibiotics on antibiotics on farms. In a letter to Ben Bradshaw, Animal
Welfare Minister, the pro-organic group calls for the advertising of
certain farm drugs to be banned and for vets to advise farmers how to
reduce their use of the antibiotics.

Richard Young, Soil Association policy adviser, said: "There is growing
evidence that the excessive use of antibiotics on intensive livestock farms
is a central factor in the spread of this new type of E-coli."

Last year, for the first time in Britain, scientists found strains of the
ESBL E-coli among sick and dying calves on a dairy farm in Wales. Some 56%
of calves examined had the bug.

Since then, government vets have found similar strains of the bug on nine
farms across the UK, including Wiltshire, Somerset and Cheshire. Defra has
refused to confirm whether any of the 10 outbreaks occurred in Scotland,
but yesterday, Richard Young said the risk was as high in Scotland as in
any other part of the UK.

The warning that ESBL E-coli could be passed through the food chain was
first made last year, in a report by the Health Protection Agency.
An outbreak of ESBL E-coli killed 29 people in Southampton last year. In
2002, it was detected at Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, and was blamed
for the death of one patient.

There were also reported cases at two other Lanarkshire hospitals –
Wishaw General and Monklands General in Airdrie. The chief medical officer,
Sir Liam Donaldson, has raised concerns, amid fears it could become as
serious as MRSA. Professor Hugh Pennington, a leading microbiologist at
Aberdeen University, said: "ESBL is spreading through the human population
as well as the animal population.  "One of the keys to solving this problem
is to use antibiotics as little as possible."

In response to the Soil Association's concerns, a spokeswoman for Defra
said: "Defra is aware of the issue and of the Soil Association's concerns
and will respond to any representations we receive from them as soon as
possible."