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

Abstract

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.

Genetic Profiling and Comparison of Human and Animal Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Isolates from Serbia

“…The information on MRSA from Serbia is scarce, mainly reported on the presence and characterization of MRSA isolates from humans and food animals [12,13,14,15,16,17,18], but to date, no study on MRSA presence in companion animals has been published.…”

Genomic Insights into Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci and Mammaliicocci from Bulk Tank Milk of Dairy Farms in Serbia

“…Studies on MRSA and other staphylococci from Serbia are scarce and mainly focused on the prevalence and characterization of MRSA from humans [20][21][22][23], and to a lesser extent on MRSA from farmed [24][25][26] and companion [27] animals. Since the first reported case of MRSA-associated subclinical bovine mastitis [26], efforts have been made to characterize dairy-related MRSA [28,29], but specific data on the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of MRS in the Serbian dairy supply chain are still missing.…”