Abstract
To detect methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) swab samples were collected from dogs, cats and horses from South East Queensland (SE QLD). MRSP carriage in dogs was 8.7% and no MRSP was isolated from cats and horses; no MRSA was isolated. Risk factors for carriage included previous hospitalisation, previous bacterial infection, consultation type, average precipitation, and human population density. The probability of MRSP carriage was highest in Brisbane city, Sunshine Coast and Gympie. This suggests that MRSP carriage in dog populations from SE QLD is geographically clustered and associated with clinical and environmental factors.
Highlights
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus species such as S. aureus (MRSA) and S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) can be involved in life-threatening multidrug resistant infections in companion animals
During the learning phase of our geographical model of methicillin resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) carriage risk we found that female dogs over the age of 7 years old had a higher probability of MRSP carriage compared to other sex/age groups thereby providing a justification for our predictive analysis to be performed for this age/sex combination (Supplementary table 1)
Our findings suggest that MRSP carriage in dogs is associated with previous history of health-care contact including prior hospitalisation, prior bacterial infection and consultation type
Summary
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus species such as S. aureus (MRSA) and S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) can be involved in life-threatening multidrug resistant infections in companion animals. MRSP is commonly isolated from dogs and cats but has been rarely identified in horses and human infections [4]. Both MRSA and MRSP can exist commensally on the skin, nares and intestinal tract of animals and humans but can become opportunistic pathogens [5]. The first case of a non-invasive infection due to zoonotic transmission was identified in a human with otitis externa who had the same strain of S. pseudintermedius (previously S. intermedius) as the carriage isolates from her pet dog [8]
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