MRSA found in poultry in East Anglia
A case of Livestock-Associated (LA) MRSA has been found in poultry on a farm in East Anglia, the AHVLA has confirmed.
Surveillance on the farm, which has not been named, was carried out by the AHVLA on behalf of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
The risk of humans contracting MRSA through meat consumption has been classed as "very low" by the Food Standards Agency, assuming meat is handled hygienically and cooked thoroughly.
Steve Wearne, the agency's director of policy, added: "The risk of the general public catching LA-MRSA from an animal is also very low."
According to Defra, LA-MRSA rarely causes disease in humans and the bacteria usually clears within 24 hours.
As the disease can potentially pass from animals to humans through direct contact or dust in animal housing, primarily those dealing with affected livestock are at risk.
Professor Angela Kearns, head of the Staphylococcus Reference Centre at Public Health England, commented: "There are many different strains of MRSA that cause illness in people but this is not one of the strains that we are overly concerned about given the very low number of clinical infections that have been seen in people."
After the affected poultry at the farm have been slaughtered and sold, the owner is to carry out thorough cleansing and disinfection to ensure the next birds to arrive at the site do not become colonised.
Following this, the AHVLA will revisit the farm to determine whether the disease is still present.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
