PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pigs: MRSA (7 October 2016)

A UK-wide baseline survey to look for the presence of livestock associated meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in UK pigs was performed in 2008 in line with European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) protocols. At that point, none of the farms tested were found to be positive for MRSA. Since then, the organism has been detected in livestock in the UK. Current advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) is that LA-MRSA poses a low risk to human health.

The people that are most likely to become colonised by LA-MRSA are those who work with livestock. Defra is therefore undertaking a study with Public Health England (PHE) to investigate the occurrence of LA-MRSA in veterinarians and livestock workers. The results of this study will be used to inform the need for future surveillance.