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MRSA arose in nature before human and livestock use of antibiotics
Up to 60 per cent of hedgehogs carry a type of MRSA called mecC-MRSA.

Hedgehogs have carried the superbug long before human antibiotic use. 

Scientists at the University of Cambridge, along with other international institutions, have discovered that a type of MRSA arose in hedgehogs and existed in nature 200 years before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock.

Human and livestock use of antibiotics has traditionally been blamed for the emergence of the antibiotic resistant superbug, however, these new findings suggest that the initial emergence of MRSA was a natural biological process. 

Hedgehog surveys from Denmark and Sweden discovered that up to 60 per cent of hedgehogs carry a type of MRSA called mecC-MRSA, while high levels of MRSA were discovered on hedgehogs across Europe and New Zealand. 

Senior author of the study, Dr Ewan Harrison, said: “Using sequencing technology we have traced the genes that give mecC-MRSA its antibiotic resistance all the way back to their first appearance, and found they were around in the nineteenth century.

“Our study suggests that it wasn’t the use of penicillin that drove the initial emergence of MRSA, it was a natural biological process. We think MRSA evolved in a battle for survival on the skin of hedgehogs, and subsequently spread to livestock and humans through direct contact.”

The current thinking is that this antibiotic resistance evolved in Staphylococcus aureus as an adaptation to existing alongside the fungus Trichophyton erinacei on the skin of hedgehogs, which produces its own antibiotics.

Professor Mark Holmes, senior author of the report and researcher at the University of Cambridge, commented on how the study supports careful use of antibiotics to lessen the significant threat to human health that MRSA poses: “This study is a stark warning that when we use antibiotics, we have to use them with care. 

“There’s a very big wildlife ‘reservoir’ where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can survive – and from there it’s a short step for them to be picked up by livestock, and then to infect humans.” 

Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen of WildCRU, University of Oxford, and co-author of the study explains: "Even though this finding is news to us, the hedgehogs have carried this bacterium for at least 200 years without causing any major infections in humans.

"Therefore, the advice is as always, to appreciate and support the hedgehogs entering your garden and to maintain a good hand hygiene when feeding and possibly handling hedgehogs. Both for the sake of the hedgehogs and ourselves."

Published in Nature, the study 'Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics' is a collaborative effort including the University of Cambridge, the Wellcome Sanger Insitute, Denmark's Serum Statens Institut and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is free-to-access. 

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

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News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."