Abstract
A total of 184 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains were collected from patients who sought treatment primarily for skin and soft tissue infections from January 1, 1999, to March 31, 2002, in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. Molecular subtyping analysis using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed 2 major clusters. Cluster A (n = 55) was composed of a multidrug-resistant MRSA strain associated with a long-term care facility and was similar to the previously reported nosocomial Canadian epidemic strain labeled CMRSA-2. Cluster B (n = 125) was associated with cases identified at community health centers and was indistinguishable from a community-associated (CA)-MRSA strain identified previously in the United States (USA400). Cluster B remained susceptible to a number of classes of antimicrobial agents and harbored the lukF-PV and lukS-PV toxin genes. Over 50% of both clonal groups displayed high-level resistance to mupirocin. This is the first report of the USA400 strain harboring the lukF-PV and lukS-PV toxin genes in Canada.
Highlights
The first report of a highly virulent community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CAMRSA) strain occurred in 1993 in Australia [1], and since that time CA-MRSA has been reported in many countries
A dramatic increase of MRSA in the east-central region of Saskatchewan has been documented in this study
The emergence of clonal group A was linked to a patient in a long-term care facility who had recently been transferred from a hospital in Saskatoon, and this strain began to spread within the facility
Summary
The first report of a highly virulent community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CAMRSA) strain occurred in 1993 in Australia [1], and since that time CA-MRSA has been reported in many countries. CA-MRSA strains are different genetically and epidemiologically from strains commonly associated with nosocomial infections. MRSA has been observed sporadically as a community-acquired pathogen in Canada [10,11]. This report describes the emergence of 2 different strains of MRSA in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. The first was associated with a long-term care facility and the second was a clone of MRSA harboring the lukF-PV and lukS-PV toxin genes and generated an indistinguishable fingerprint from the previously described USA400 strain. This is the first report describing the emergence in Canada of the strain of USA400 that contains lukF-PV and lukS-PV
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