The Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) says it is concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on cattle farms. The medication ultimately causes the hospital "superbug" MRSA to become resistant also in humans.
RIVM infection specialist Dr Roel Coutinho told the Dutch NOS television: "On cattle farms, the quantity of antibiotics administered to the animals is ten times that of the human use countrywide. I'm not convinced that this is really necessary, and I think we should do the utmost to reduce the use."
Some 80 percent of cattle breeding farms and half the Dutch chicken farms have been infected with a strain of MRSA, the institute says. In 2008, there were over 1100 reports of infection, 400 more than in 2007. The Netherlands is also on top of the European list for over-dosing life stock and poultry with antibiotics and some of the resistant MRSA strain has now also found its way into hospitals in the Netherlands.
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