Why factory farms are to blame for new superbugs

Food campaigners have highlighted the fact that around half of all the antibiotics used in Britain are given to farm animals to prevent or treat disease.

Disease is a problem of cramped conditions found particularly on intensive farms producing chicken, eggs and pigs.

Food campaigners have highlighted the fact that around half of all the antibiotics used in Britain are given to farm animals to prevent or treat disease

A number of superbug versions of common food poisoning bugs have emerged in recent years, including salmonella, campylobacter and E.coli.

These bugs have developed an immunity to antibiotics, which means doctors have difficulty treating people who become infected with them.

The issue has been recognised by the World Health Organisation and doctors and academics who have called for a reduction in the use of antibiotics on farms and in human medicine.

The problem has been highlighted by organic farming expert and policy adviser to the Soil Association, Richard Young, in a study published by the Food Commission today.

An estimated 30,000 people each year in the UK are affected by E.coli infections which are resistant to almost all antibiotics.

There are an estimated 4,200 deaths.

The Daily Mail revealed the discovery of a superbug version of E.coli among sick and dying calves on a farm in Wales in February 2005.

Twenty-seven of 48 calves examined  -  56 per cent  -  carried the bug.

By the autumn of last year, the number of farms with animals carrying the bug had risen to 32, stretching from Cheshire to Wiltshire and Somerset.

In June, the Mail revealed how a deadly strain of an MRSA superbug found in pigs had been transmitted to humans in the UK.

The MRSA strain, ST398, which has been linked to deaths from pneumonia, has been found in pigs, meat and humans on the Continent.

It was first identified in the Netherlands as recently as 2003, where it is now responsible for 30 per cent of all human cases.

A number of limited surveys on the Continent and in the UK have apparently found the bug in raw pork and chicken.

Mr Young said: 'The use of antibiotics is a cornerstone of intensive livestock production and because this is such an enormous industry there will inevitably be a reluctance to change.

'No one wants to stop farmers using antibiotics when they are genuinely needed.

'However, there are a number of very serious problems now developing and the evidence increasingly suggests that food is part of the problem.

'As such we need an urgent review of the overall situation with clear recommendations to prevent an impending crisis.'

Experts at the European Food Safety Authority have called for a Europe-wide review of safety regimes to tackle the growing menace of food superbugs.

The antibiotics used by doctors are also known as antimicrobials, and the immunity developed by these common bugs is known as antimicrobial resistance.

A report from EFSA experts published earlier this year concluded: 'Antimicrobial resistance of bacteria is a growing concern as antimicrobials become less effective in fighting human infections.

'This coincides with a rise in bacterial resistance to antimicrobials in animal populations.'

They added: 'The principal foods carrying such antimicrobial resistant bacteria are poultry meat, eggs, pork or beef.'