title: The presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on large pig breeding farms in Croatia.
abstract: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have emerged worldwide and have become resistant to a variety of antibiotics. MRSA colonisation in pigs was first reported from the Netherlands in 2005, where pigs were implicated as a source of human MRSA infections (Voss et al., 2005). This paper presents the first report on the presence of MRSA on large pig breeding farms in Croatia, together with the determination of the mecA gene, the results of spa typing and susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobials. Dust samples (7-11 per farm) were collected from eight large pig farms in Croatia. Of the total 68 swabs, the mecA gene was detected in 24 isolates growing on the MRSA agar. All isolates were resistant to oxacillin, tetracycline and streptomycin, and susceptible only to vancomycin, while 92% of the strains were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. Genotyping of the MRSA strains was performed by spa typing, and revealed t011 (n = 17), t034 (n = 5) and t1451 (n = 2). The results presented here predict that MRSA is present on a large number of pig farms in Croatia.
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Bacteriology and Parasitology Savska cesta 143 10000 Zagreb Croatia. habrun@veinst.hr
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Habrun
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Račić
authors.forename: Relja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Budimir
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benić
authors.forename: Gordan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kompes
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spičić
authors.forename: Zeljko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cvetnić
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001947:Breeding; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins; C487789:mecA protein, Staphylococcus aureus