Abstract
BackgroundA livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain sequence type 398 (ST398) is found related to animals and humans in Europe and North America. To evaluate the nasal carriage of MRSA among pigs and related workers in Taiwan, we conducted this study.MethodsFrom June 25 to October 1 2012, a total of 641 and 100 nasal swabs were obtained from pigs and related workers, respectively, from 22 pig farms nationwide and 2 pig auction markets in Taiwan. All MRSA isolates were molecularly characterized.ResultsOverall, the nasal carriage rate of MRSA was 14.4% for pigs and 13% for humans. The carriage rate for pigs younger than 3 months was significantly higher than those older than 3 months (25.4% vs. 5.8%, p<.001). Percentage of MRSA-positive pig farms was 59.1% (13/22). The carriage rate for pigs in large-scale herds (≥10000 pigs) was significantly higher than that in small-scale (34.3% vs. 7.0%, p<.001) and that in auction markets (3.8%). The carriage rate was 19.2% (10/52) for pig farm workers, and the rate in large-scale farms was significantly higher than that in small-scale (36.8% vs. 9.1%, p = .014). Except for 3 isolates from humans, the other 99 isolates belonged to sequence type (ST) 9. 83 of 89 isolates from pigs shared a common pulsotype, which was also shared by 6 isolates from humans.ConclusionMore than 10% of pigs and related workers in Taiwan carried LA-MRSA ST9 in nares and cross-species transmission of LA-MRSA was documented by molecular methods.
Highlights
Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of infections in both hospitals and communities, causing diseases ranging from mild skin infections to fulminant septicemia, and becomes increasingly resistant to methicillin
89 (14.4%) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were identified from 641 pigs, which included 536 pigs in pig farms (157 piglets, 158 sows, and 221 grower pigs) and 105 grower pigs in auction markets
The carriage rate of MRSA for piglets (29/157, 18.5%), and grower pigs (50/ 326, 15.3%) was significantly higher than that for sow (10/158, 6.3%) (p,.01, odds ratio (OR) 3.35 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.57–7.15] and 2.68 [95% CI 1.32–5.44], respectively)
Summary
Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of infections in both hospitals and communities, causing diseases ranging from mild skin infections to fulminant septicemia, and becomes increasingly resistant to methicillin. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (RSA) is usually considered a hospital pathogen, but increasingly, it is acquired in the community [1,2,3]. In addition to being a human pathogen, S. aureus causes an array of infections in economically important livestock animals, in pigs [5,6,7]. A specific MRSA sequence type 398 (ST398) is found related to various animals and humans across European countries and North America (8–12). A livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain sequence type 398 (ST398) is found related to animals and humans in Europe and North America. To evaluate the nasal carriage of MRSA among pigs and related workers in Taiwan, we conducted this study
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