Animals & MRSA

Cleaner Hospital Summit

Pets MRSA site founder Jill Moss with actress Leslie Ash at the recent Cleaner Hospitals Summit.

I attended the Patients' Summit in London on the 14th of April where many issues concerning MRSA and healthcare were discussed. During the opening speeches Claire Rayner announced that I was present and asked me to stand up and display the brochure which generated a huge amount of interest. Claire has been an amazing support and for that we thank her.

I also had the chance to speak to Leslie Ash, who told me she has a dog that means the world to her and is so shocked to learn that MRSA is now affecting pets that she said 'It's really getting out of control and we need to do something'. She said the work we are doing is very important. I also met Dr Phil Hammond (from TVs 'Trust Me I'm  A Doctor) who spoke at the end of the day to an invited audience and who showed great interest in the work of the charity. More will be reported in our next update.

MRSA, your pet and operations

Hunt and McGinn, Veterinary Surgeons, discuss anaesthetic and post-operative issues. You can download this guidance sheet by clicking on the link below

Download hunt_and_mcginn_contribution.pdf

Community MRSA a key factor in many Pet MRSA Cases

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a highly pathogenic multiple-drug resistant (MDR) microorganism that has recently become more prevalent in the community. It has been found that MRSA strains can also contain genes that encode the panton valentine leukocidin toxin (PVL). The PVL toxin has been shown to be responsible for many of the severe clinical symptoms of infection with MRSA, such as furunculosis, severe necrotizing pneumonia, and necrotic lesions of the skin and soft tissues. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the S. aureus PVL toxin genes (/^S-PVand lukF-PV) in MRSA strains isolated from companion animals. Eleven MRSA isolates, from a total of 23 tested, were shown to possess the mecA gene and the PVL toxin genes.

Click the link below to download the full article on this key subject

Download panton_valentine_leukocidin.doc

Caring for an MRSA infected pet at home

Annette Loeffler (MRCVS) answers questions on caring at home for a pet infected with MRSA. You can download this guidance sheet by clicking on the link below

Download annette_loeffler_advice_pets_at_home.pdf

Help us help you

'The Bella Moss Foundation and PETS-MRSA.COM are asking for your help in gathering data on pets and MRSA. Download and complete our questionnaire and you will be helping us in our work to ensure the health and welfare of pets". Click the link below.

Download the_bella_moss_foundation_mrsa_and_pets_questionnaire.pdf

ITV clip now available

Link: Useful Links

You can view the 3 minute + London Tonight item by going to the link above

July Update

No update in June simply because things became very hectic with the Charity, but here is a brief recap of what we’ve up to since May.

 

Our Dogs May 05

Moss foundation gathers momentum

THE PUBLIC profile of the organisation devoted to raising awareness of the growing incidence of MRSA in pets has grown dramatically in the past few months. Since its official launch at Crufts in March, the Bella Moss Foundation has started attracting attention across the regions of the UK.

Jill Moss, President and Founder of the charity, was busy on Friday the 13th speaking to local BBC radio stations from Essex to Belfast on the subject of pets and MRSA and the work of the Foundation.

Animals & MRSA concern grows

Link: Connecticut Pets -.

Studies show pets are enhancing the spread of so-called "super bugs." These bacteria, historically picked up in the hospital by people, are frustrating to treat since they're resistant to common antibiotics.

Take Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA). It turns out people can come home from the hospital with this nasty bug -- even if they never have an outward symptom. Then, MRSA is passed on to a family pet. Sometimes pets get sick, sometimes they don't, but either way, they can spread the bug into the community.

Super bugs being spread by pets are a potential public health issue, says Dr. J. Scott Weese, a specialist in large animal internal medicine and professor in clinical studies at Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in Canada. His findings were among those announced at the annual Forum of the American College of Veterinary Medicine (ACVIM) June 1-4 at the Baltimore Convention Center.