title: Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST9 in pigs and related personnel in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain sequence type 398 (ST398) is found related to animals and humans in Europe and North America. To evaluate the nasal carriage of MRSA among pigs and related workers in Taiwan, we conducted this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  From June 25 to October 1 2012, a total of 641 and 100 nasal swabs were obtained from pigs and related workers, respectively, from 22 pig farms nationwide and 2 pig auction markets in Taiwan. All MRSA isolates were molecularly characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the nasal carriage rate of MRSA was 14.4% for pigs and 13% for humans. The carriage rate for pigs younger than 3 months was significantly higher than those older than 3 months (25.4% vs. 5.8%, p<.001). Percentage of MRSA-positive pig farms was 59.1% (13/22). The carriage rate for pigs in large-scale herds (≥ 10000 pigs) was significantly higher than that in small-scale (34.3% vs. 7.0%, p<.001) and that in auction markets (3.8%). The carriage rate was 19.2% (10/52) for pig farm workers, and the rate in large-scale farms was significantly higher than that in small-scale (36.8% vs. 9.1%, p = .014). Except for 3 isolates from humans, the other 99 isolates belonged to sequence type (ST) 9. 83 of 89 isolates from pigs shared a common pulsotype, which was also shared by 6 isolates from humans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than 10% of pigs and related workers in Taiwan carried LA-MRSA ST9 in nares and cross-species transmission of LA-MRSA was documented by molecular methods.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Gueishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Gueishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Po-Hsing
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Gueishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan ; Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Gueishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yhu-Chering
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents