title: Experimental nasal colonization of piglets with methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type (ST)398 is widely spread among livestock. People in contact with livestock have a higher risk of testing positive for MRSA. Several experimental settings have been described to study in vivo colonization of MRSA in pigs, each having its own limitations. The aim of this study was to develop a nose-colonization model in pigs to quantitatively study the colonization of MRSA and the co-colonization of MSSA and MRSA. Two experiments were performed: in the first experiment piglets received an intranasal inoculation with MRSA ST398, spa-type t011, and in the second experiment piglets received an intranasal inoculation with two MSSA strains (ST398, spa-type t011 and t034) and two MRSA strains (also ST398, spa-type t011 and t034) to investigate co-colonization. Colonization was quantitatively monitored for 2 weeks in both experiments. Nasal colonization was successfully established in all piglets with stable numbers of S. aureus between 10(4) and 10(6) CFU. MSSA and MRSA were able to co-colonize.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.165, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Koen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Verstappen
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.165, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duim
authors.affiliation: Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 7, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Nes
authors.affiliation: Department for Medical Microbiology, Erasmus Medical Centre, P.O. box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Snijders
authors.affiliation: Department for Medical Microbiology, Erasmus Medical Centre, P.O. box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Willem J B
authors.initials: WJB
authors.lastname: van Wamel
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.165, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands; Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR, Edelhertweg 15, 8219 PH Lelystad, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.wagenaar@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Jaap A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wagenaar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D023421:Models, Animal; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D008712:Methicillin
keywords: Co-colonization; MRSA; Nasal colonization; Pigs; S. aureus