title: Prevalence and characteristics of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in humans in contact with farm animals, in livestock, and in food of animal origin, Switzerland, 2009.
abstract: A total of 2,662 samples, collected from March to September 2009 in Switzerland, were tested for the presence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The collection comprised nasal swabs from 148 pig farmers, 133 veterinarians, 179 slaughterhouse employees, 800 pigs, 300 calves, 400 cattle, 100 pooled neck skin swabs from chicken carcasses, and 460 food samples of animal origin. Moreover, 142 S. aureus strains, isolated from bovine mastitis milk, were included in the study. Twenty samples (< 1%; four veterinarians, 10 pigs, three calves, one young bull, and two mastitis milk samples) tested positive for MRSA. Genotyping of the MRSA strains was performed by multilocus sequence typing, spa- and SCCmec-typing, and revealed ST398 (n=18), ST8 (n=1), ST 1 (n=1), spa types t011 (n=7), t034 (n=11), t064 (n=1), t127 (n=1), and SCCmec types IV (n=4) and V (n=16). The 20 MRSA strains were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis using the restriction enzyme EagI. Supplementary PCR reactions were performed to investigate the presence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin and staphylococcal enterotoxins A to D.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. ils@fsafety.uzhch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giezendanner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stephan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zweifel
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D013202:Staphylococcal Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D018634:Veterinarians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*