The first nosocomial outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in horses in Sweden

Abstract

Conclusions: Association in time and space of six horses infected with an identical MRSA strain of spa-type t011 confirmed an outbreak. Two isolates found in 2009 and 2010 in the outbreak hospital were closely related to the outbreak strain, indicating one circulating strain. Both spa-type t011 and t064 have been reported in horses in Europe prior to these findings. The observation that the infections cleared although antimicrobials were not used is encouraging for future prudent use of antimicrobials. The time from surgery to bacteriological diagnosis was not acceptable in most cases, as contagious spread was a risk. Sampling when symptoms of infection are noticed and accurate analysis are thus important.

Keywords

Methicillin-resistant; Staphylococcus aureus; MRSA; horses; outbreak; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; PFGE

Published in

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
2012, volume: 54, article number: 11
Publisher: BIOMED CENTRAL LTD

SLU Authors

• Bergström, Karin

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Aspán, Anna

  • National Veterinary Institute (SVA)

• Johnston, Christopher

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

AMR: Bacteria

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-54-11

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/45605