title: Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 8 in pigs, production environment, and human beings.
abstract: Two follow-up studies of a positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) finding in the 2008 European Union baseline survey on MRSA in pig herds were performed to gain more knowledge about the epidemiology of the particular MRSA type, a known human type (ST8/t008), among pigs. Two persons on a Norwegian farm in the study were found to be MRSA carriers, and human-to-animal transmission was suspected. In the first follow-up study, all pigs (n  =  346) were sampled by taking nasal swabs. A pooled sample from 5 individual pigs housed together in a single pen, and a dust sample from the equipment in the same room, were positive. Dust samples from a building housing MRSA-negative animals were negative. The MRSA was not detected in the second follow-up, after removing positive animals from the farm and cleaning and disinfecting. A low MRSA occurrence among the animals was found, suggesting that MRSA ST8/t008 may be less able to colonize and persist in pig holdings compared with more host-adapted S. aureus strains.
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary Institute, Section of Bacteriology, PO Box 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway. marianne.sunde@vetinst.no
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunde
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tharaldsen
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marstein
authors.forename: Magne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haugum
authors.forename: Madelaine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Norström
authors.forename: Trond
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lium
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004391:Dust; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004391:Dust