MRSA Found in Six Pig Herds in Haugalandet

All the involved farmers have been told they must carry out full refurbishment of the premises where the pigs have been held, after the animals are sent to slaughter.

To avoid good meat from being thrown away instead of going to food, the pigs will be kept until harvestable age then slaughtered. It is not dangerous to eat the meat.

No pets are allowed in or out of the farms that have been diagnosed with MRSA, without special agreement from the Food Safety Authority.

All six farms with MRSA had received pigs from a piglets manufacturer of Haugalandet who had MRSA in late May.

The Piglets Contractor has also sold pigs to a total of 12 other pork producers. Altogether eight of these have now tested positive for MRSA, three have tested negative and one has not yet received the test results.

MRSA variants can be transmitted between humans and animals.

MRSA can be found in meat from pigs infected with the bacterium, but the likelihood that people will be infected through eating pork is very small. The bacteria are mainly on the surface of the meat and are killed by heat treatment. It is customary to thoroughly cook pork in Norway. There is always a risk that raw meat may contain bacteria or other infectious agents, and it is therefore important to handle raw meat in such a way to avoid becoming infected.