MRSA: From Pigs to People

A new methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain from an animal reservoir infects humans, accounting for >20% of study isolates from a national database in the Netherlands.

Many reports document the expanding prominence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. In the Netherlands, a new MRSA strain nontypeable (NT-MRSA) by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) emerged in 2003. Several infections with this pathogen were identified in the Netherlands in 2004 and 2005, seemingly linked to pig farms. Investigators intensified surveillance and carried out a case-control study to assess this possible association. The case-control portion of the investigation involved information on 111 patients with MRSA infections between January 2003 and September 2005 — 35 cases (persons carrying NT-MRSA who provided a unique isolate or the first isolate from a cluster) and 76 controls (similar individua…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine