Occurrence and characteristic of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> on pig farms in the Czech Republic

Bardoň, Jan; Kolář, Milan; Karpíšková, Renáta; Žemličková, Helena; Fridrichová, Marta; Sauer, Pavel; Šťástková, Zora; Hanulík, Vojtěch

doi:10.2754/avb201281030219

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2012, Vol. 81 > Issue 3 > Occurrence and characteristic of…

Acta Vet. Brno 2012, 81: 219-223

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201281030219

Occurrence and characteristic of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on pig farms in the Czech Republic

Jan Bardoň^1,2, Milan Kolář¹, Renáta Karpíšková^3,4, Helena Žemličková³, Marta Fridrichová³, Pavel Sauer¹, Zora Šťástková⁴, Vojtěch Hanulík¹

¹Palacky University, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Microbiology, Olomouc, Czech Republic
²State Veterinary Institute Olomouc, Czech Republic
³National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic
⁴University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, Department of Milk Hygiene and Technology, Brno, Czech Republic

In recent years, a negative trend of increasing prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains has been noted worldwide. In addition to their prevalence in humans, MRSA strains have also been detected in animals, both pets and food-producing animals, especially in pigs. At the same time, transmission of MRSA strains from animals to humans has been documented. This study brings results from the first nationwide survey on the prevalence of MRSA in herds of breeding pigs, carried out throughout the Czech Republic in accordance with the Commission Decision 2008/55/EC, including brief characteristics of isolates. In 2008, a total of 283 pooled samples (dust swabs from partitions between pens) from the holdings of breeding pigs were analyzed. In five cases, MRSA isolates were detected, with a prevalence of 1.8%. All the isolated strains belonged to a single sequence type ST398. It may be said that at present, the prevalence of MRSA on pig farms does not pose a significant general epidemiological risk for the human population.