more propoganda against meat eating-chicken eaters beware!

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/programmes/real_story/4142486.stm

 

Monday, 15 August 2005, 04:29 GMT 05:29 UK

Superbugs found in chicken survey

Chicken Significant numbers of chickens on sale in UK shops are contaminated

with superbugs, a scientific survey commissioned by BBC One's Real Story

suggests.

 

Of the British-grown chickens analysed, over half were contaminated with

multi-drug resistant E.coli which is immune to the effects of three or more

antibiotics.

 

More than a third of the 147 samples, which included overseas and UK

produced chicken, had E.coli germs resistant to the important antibiotic

Trimethaprim which is used to treat bladder infections.

 

The Health Protection Agency scientists testing the meat also found 12

chickens had antibiotic resistant Campylobacter.

 

And VRE, or Vancomycin Resistant Enteroccci, were in 1 in 25 of the samples,

although more tests would be needed to confirm the exact type of the bug

found.

 

REAL STORY:

 

* Monday, 15 August 2005

BBC ONE, 1930 BST

 

 

No organic chickens were used - 64 were from the UK and 83 from abroad.

 

The survey's results could partly explain a rise in the number of women

whose bladder infections did not respond to standard treatments, a medical

expert told the programme.

 

Dr Mike Millar, the head of Infection Control at St Barts Hospital in

London, said: "Potentially this is very worrying.

 

"We've known for years there've been outbreaks of bladder infections in

different parts of the world but we haven't really known where the germs

have been coming from.

 

"Potentially food could be a source."

 

In worst cases, bladder infections could lead to kidney damage and the need

for renal dialysis, he said.

 

Anna Sawkins, who suffered from recurrent bladder infections caused by

E.coli, told Real Story how she "went back to the doctors hundreds of times

and nothing was getting any better".

 

According to the latest figures, British animals consume 15 tonnes of

Trimethaprim a year.

 

However, the Health Protection Agency says the main reason E.coli has become

resistant to the drugs we use to treat bladder infections is the high use of

antibiotics in humans.

 

Campylobacters

 

The World Health Organisation has named antibiotic resistance as one of

three major threats for the future.

 

Responding to the Real Story survey, leading WHO scientist Stuart Levy said:

"Attention should be given to how antibiotics are used in animals so as to

better treat them - but also to protect the spread of antibiotic resistant

bacteria from the farms into the cities and into the people."

 

Bacteria in chicken is killed if the meat is cooked properly and

hygienically but one in three people in the UK get food poisoning each year

- and the most common cause of food poisoning is the bug Campylobacter.

 

Dr Caroline Willis, who led the team testing the chickens, said: "In terms

of antibiotic resistance, about a quarter of the Campylobacters that we

found were resistant to one or other of the antibiotics commonly used to

treat it."

 

"There's overwhelming evidence that the main reason for antibiotic

resistance in humans is because of the antibiotics prescribed for us rather

than animals"

British Poultry Council

 

With regards to the VRE found in the samples, the Health Protection Agency

recognised the problem but pointed out that although VRE in chickens can

lead to VRE in the human gut, it mainly only affects people already ill in

hospital.

 

The British Poultry Council disputed the validity of the survey, saying it

was not detailed enough and that previous research pointed to lower levels

of antibiotic resistance in chicken.

 

Spokesman Darren Pearson said: "There's overwhelming evidence that the main

reason for antibiotic resistance in humans is because of the antibiotics

prescribed for us rather than animals.

 

"It doesn't mean to say it's not possible for antibiotic resistance to be

transferred from animals to man but I think you've got to focus on where the

main concern lies."