EFSA (European Food Safety Authority – 2009) published a report on a Baseline Survey of the prevalence of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in the EU, for 2008, in breeding holdings (producers of breeding stock) and production herds (producing weaners, growers and finishers) and found that in the Netherlands, the country that first recognised the problem in 2005, had a prevalence of 12.8% and 17.9%, respectively of the pig adapted clone of MRSA CC398. Spain had a high 46% and 50.2% prevalence, respectively, but Denmark had only 0% and 3.5% figures. In the UK and Norway, there was 0% prevalence reported on both counts.

In the recent Danish studies carried out in 2014, they found that 63% of breeding herds and 68% of finisher herds were positive carriers of MRSA. This is an explosion of prevalence over the last 6 years.