Abstract
The farming community can be a vehicle for introduction of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in hospitals. During 2011-2013, an 18-month longitudinal study aimed at reducing the prevalence of LA-MRSA was conducted on 36 pig farms in the Netherlands. Evaluations every 6 months showed a slight decrease in MRSA prevalence in animals and a stable prevalence in farmers and family members. Antimicrobial use, expressed as defined daily dosages per animal per year, decreased 44% during the study period and was associated with declining MRSA prevalence in pigs. MRSA carriage in animals was substantially higher at farms using cephalosporins. Antimicrobial use remained strongly associated with LA-MRSA in humans regardless of the level of animal contact. A risk factor analysis outlined potential future interventions for LA-MRSA control. These results should encourage animal and public health authorities to maintain their efforts in reducing antimicrobial use in livestock and ask for future controlled intervention studies.
Highlights
The farming community can be a vehicle for introduction of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in hospitals
We found a quantitative association between antimicrobial use and MRSA in pigs and humans living and/or working on pig farms
Our findings indicate that a reduction in antimicrobial use is likely to be effective in reducing MRSA carriage in pigs
Summary
The farming community can be a vehicle for introduction of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in hospitals. A risk factor analysis outlined potential future interventions for LA-MRSA control These results should encourage animal and public health authorities to maintain their efforts in reducing antimicrobial use in livestock and ask for future controlled intervention studies. In the Netherlands the most noticeable change started in 2010, when the government set objectives for a 50% reduction in antimicrobial use by 2013 and 70% by 2015, compared with 2009 This policy was combined with benchmarking of farms, and later veterinarians, to identify persistently high users of antimicrobial drugs [14]. Against the background of nationwide reduction of antimicrobial use, during 2011–2013, we evaluated MRSA carriage changes in pigs and humans and study the effect of introduction of an additional range of preventive measures on MRSA carriage in animals, and humans living and/or working on the farms
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