Abstract
BackgroundThe transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) between humans and animals has been identified in a number of countries. In this study, MRSA in urban rodents and shrews in a community was investigated. Further, comparisons of MRSA isolates from rodents, shrews, and humans were conducted to evaluate the relationships of these isolates from different origins.ResultsBetween 2015 and 2016, 397 oropharynx samples from 212 rodents and 185 shrews, and 8 MRSA isolates from hospital patients were collected. Twelve MRSA were isolated from the small mammals (3.0, 95%CI: 1.3–4.7%), including 11 isolates from rodents and one from a shrew. Three MRSA isolates from Rattus norvegicus were PVL-positive, and seven isolates were IEC-negative (one from Suncus murinus, five from Rattus norvegicus, and one from a patient). The spa type, MLST, and antimicrobial resistance patterns showed that the MRSA retrieved from rodents and shrews are likely related to human strains.ConclusionMRSA derived from rodent shares similar antimicrobial resistance and molecular characteristics to those from humans, suggesting that urban rodents may play as maintenance host or vectors for MRSA which is important to human health.
Highlights
The transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) between humans and animals has been identified in a number of countries
Of the 397 animals trapped, S. aureus was isolated from 101 (25.4, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 21.1–29.7%), of those 87 isolates were derived from rodents and 14 from shrews
Of the 101 S. aureus isolates, 12 were mecA-positive MRSA (3.0, 95% CI: 1.3–4.7%), including 11 from Rattus norvegicus and one from Suncus murinus
Summary
The transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) between humans and animals has been identified in a number of countries. MRSA in urban rodents and shrews in a community was investigated. Comparisons of MRSA isolates from rodents, shrews, and humans were conducted to evaluate the relationships of these isolates from different origins. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an important opportunistic pathogen, which causes a wide range of infections in humans and animals [1]. In 1961, 2 years after the clinical introduction of methicillin in the United Kingdom, the first methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain was identified [3]. In 2014 the World Health Organization reported that for all-cause mortality, MRSA had a Relative Risk (RR) of 1.61 compared to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) infections (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 1.43–1.82) [4].
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