Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a global public health concern. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence rates of MRSA infection amongst broiler chickens and broilers farm workers. The total samples used in this study were 306. Cloacal swab samples from 231 broilers and nasal swab samples from 75 broilers farm workers were collected from five farms in Duhok city, Iraq. Isolation and identification of MRSA isolates were carried out and the antibiotic susceptibility were screened. Molecular characterization of all isolates was performed by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect the mecA gene. S. aureus was detected among 84% (63/75) of the farms workers samples and among 84.8% (196/231) of the broiler's samples. The S. aureus isolated from farm workers and broilers appeared resistant to oxacillin 28.6% (18/63), and 32.1% (63/196), respectively. MRSA colonization in farm workers and broilers was 24% (18/75) and 27.3% (63/231) respectively. The S. aureus isolates showed the most resistant to chloramphenicol and the least resistant to vancomycin. The results of the PCR assays revealed that 85.7% (12/14) of S. aureus isolates from farm workers and 44.4% (16/36) of S. aureus isolates from broilers were positive for the mecA gene. The direct handling of broilers by farm workers plays the important role for transport the MRSA isolates from broilers to broilers farm workers.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been recently identified in poultry and farm workers. The aim of this work was to investigate the epidemiological relatedness of MRSA among chickens and farmworker. MRSA isolates (n=50) from human (n=14) and from chikens (n=36) were tested for molecular epidemiological relatedness between human and poultry. RAPD-PCR was carried out for fingerprinting of MRSA isolates genome. Seven genotypes group (A-G) have been identified. All human MRSA were belonging to genotype A. Whereas, chickens MRSA isolates was belonging to different genotype patterns groups (A-G). To conclude, human MRSA was belonging to one genotype pattern but the chickens MRSA strains were belonging to seven genotypes. The genotype pattern A was the most dominant among all MRSA isolates. It is possible that the chickens play an important role for the human exposure to MRSA by direct contact. Further studies are required to address the relatedness between human and chicken MRSA.