Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was isolated from nares of 27/417 (6.5%) attendees at an international veterinary conference: 23/345 (7.0%) veterinarians, 4/34 (12.0%) technicians, and 0/38 others. Colonization was more common for large-animal (15/96, 15.6%) than small-animal personnel (12/271, 4.4%) or those with no animal patient contact (0/50) (p<0.001). Large-animal practice was the only variable significantly associated with colonization (odds ratio 2.9; 95% confidence interval 1.2-6.6). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified 2 predominant clones with similar distribution among veterinarians as previously reported for horses and companion animals. Canadian epidemic MRSA-2 (CMRSA) was isolated from 11 small-animal and 2 large-animal personnel from the United States (n = 12) and Germany (n = 1). In contrast, CMRSA-5 was isolated exclusively from large-animal personnel (p<0.001) in the United States (n = 10), United Kingdom (n = 2), and Denmark (n = 1). MRSA colonization may be an occupational risk for veterinary professionals.
Highlights
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was isolated from nares of 27/417 (6.5%) attendees at an international veterinary conference: 23/345 (7.0%) veterinarians, 4/34 (12.0%) technicians, and 0/38 others
4 persons who worked with large animals were colonized with Canadian epidemic MRSA-2 (CMRSA)-5, and 1 veterinarian who worked with small animals was colonized with CMRSA-2
A significant difference was identified between clones recovered from those who worked with large animals (CMRSA-5) and those who worked with small animals (CMRSA-2)
Summary
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was isolated from nares of 27/417 (6.5%) attendees at an international veterinary conference: 23/345 (7.0%) veterinarians, 4/34 (12.0%) technicians, and 0/38 others. Asymptomatic colonization with MRSA represents a major risk factor for infection or for transmission among persons within hospitals or the community [11]. Reported prevalence of MRSA colonization in the community has been variable; the study population has a major effect on MRSA carriage rates. A study at a small-animal referral hospital in the United Kingdom reported MRSA colonization in 17.9% of veterinary personnel. In all of the above reports, a screening bias for MRSA colonization may have been present if an outbreak had been ongoing in the population Whether these results would accurately reflect the prevalence of MRSA in the general veterinary population, and the occupational risk of MRSA exposure for veterinarians, is unclear. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of MRSA colonization in veterinary personnel attending an international veterinary conference and to characterize recovered MRSA isolates
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