First isolation of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> from pigs’  clinical samples in Serbia

Zutic, Milenko; Cirkovic, Ivana; Pavlovic, Ljiljana; Asanin, Jelena; Jovanovic, Snezana; Zutic, Jadranka; Asanin, Ruzica

doi:10.2754/avb201281030225

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2012, Vol. 81 > Issue 3 > First isolation of methicillin-resistant…

Acta Vet. Brno 2012, 81: 225-227

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201281030225

First isolation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from pigs’ clinical samples in Serbia

Milenko Zutic¹, Ivana Cirkovic², Ljiljana Pavlovic³, Jelena Asanin⁴, Snezana Jovanovic⁵, Jadranka Zutic¹, Ruzica Asanin⁶

¹Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Department of Microbiology, Belgrade, Serbia
²University of Belgrade, School of Medicine, Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Belgrade, Serbia
³Institute of Public Health of Serbia, Center for Microbiology, Belgrade, Serbia
⁴University of Belgrade, Faculty of Technology & Metallurgy, Innovation Center, Belgrade, Serbia
⁵Clinical Center of Serbia, Department of Microbiology, Belgrade, Serbia
⁶University of Belgrade, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a highly important human pathogen that is also a significant concern in veterinary medicine. Despite the high prevalence of colonization, clinical infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus appear to be rare in pigs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from a sow with endometritis and her five piglets with dermatitis originating from a Serbian farm. Identification of the strains was done by automated system and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction for mecA and nuc genes. Detection of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec type was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing on erythromycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and vancomycin was done by disc diffusion method. Six isolated strains from the infected sow and her piglets showed resistance only to tetracycline beside resistance to all beta-lactam antibiotics. In the tested methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates, Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec type V was present. To our knowledge, this finding is the first documented detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from pigs’ clinical samples in Serbia. The results of our study indicate the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a pig farm in Serbia highlighting the threat of this antibiotic-resistant microorganism as a pathogen causing both animal and human infections.