Hedgehogs had MRSA superbug long before antibiotics use, research finds

Animals thought to have developed the illness about 200 years ago after bacterial infections gained resistance to natural antibiotics

Hedgehogs have been harbouring a type of the MRSA superbug since long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, research suggests.

Scientists have found evidence of the superbug arising in nature well before the use of the drugs, which have traditionally been blamed for its emergence.