A new short thriller/documentary, Swine, has just been release by Viva! The film exposes the impending crisis of antibiotic resistance developing in factory farms.

"For years the factory farming industry have been lying to us about how they treat animals. The rise of antibiotic resistance in factory farms is just the latest in a long line of abuses by an unregulated and out of control industry, which needs to be stopped", says Juliet Gellatley, Director of Viva!.

Creators of Swine, Damien Clarkson and Robbie Lockie add "We hope this film shines a light on the secretive world of factory farms. Antibiotics have saved thousands of lives every day and the actions of factory farms are making the spectre of an antibiotic resistant future a real possibility".

Key facts from the film:

• 50% of all antibiotics sold in the UK are used on farmed animals with 60% of these being used on pigs. (In Australia, between 1992-97, over half of all antibiotics were used in stockfeed. See Turnidge, J, 'Antibiotics in animals - much ado about something', Australian Prescriber Vol 24, 2001, pp 26-27.)
• Antibiotic resistant MRSA bacteria has been found in pig meat products sold in the UK. (MRSA is also a big problem in Australia, with animals being a carrier of the infection. See Staphylococcus aureus ST398 detected in pigs in Australia.)
• A new antibiotic resistant gene MCR-1 has developed in the worldwide pig population. It is resistant to Colistin one of our last line of defence drugs against disease. It has been found in pigs across Europe including the UK. (It is likely that this gene will spread to Australia via humans and then will multiply in crowded farm conditions.)
• Antibiotic resistance developing in the pig population was discussed in the UK parliament as far back as 1953.

Watch the full version of "Swine" here.

References

• Australia faces big MRSA problem
• Resistant staph strain detected in Aussie pigs
• Staphylococcus aureus ST398 detected in pigs in Australia
• Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by veterinarians in Australia
• Heffernan raises 'superbug' concerns
• "Superbug" anxiety grows
• Scientists have found a new strain of bacteria that is resistant to all antibiotics
• Antibiotic-resistant superbug found in US a 'serious danger', experts warn
• Superbug resistant to last resort antibiotic bound to reach Australia, expert says
• It looks like superbugs have finally built resistance to our 'drug of last resort'