Methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>: livestock-associated, antimicrobial, and heavy metal resistance

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen of human and other mammals that is of increasing clinical and veterinary importance due to its ability to rapidly develop antimicrobial resistance. The injudicious use of antibiotics has given rise to the emergence of antibiotic resistant S. aureus strains, most importantly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The emergence of livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) has highlighted the importance of directed research toward its prevention, as well as the need for the discovery and development of more efficient treatment than is currently available. Furthermore, the treatment of MRSA is complicated by the co-selection of heavy metal and antibiotic resistance genes by microorganisms. Livestock and livestock production systems are large reservoirs of heavy metals due to their use in feed as well as environmental contaminant, which has allowed for the selection of LA-MRSA isolates with heavy metal resistance. The World Health Organization reported that Africa has the largest gaps in data on the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, with no reports on rates for LA-MRSA harboring heavy metal resistance in South Africa. This review aimed to report the emergence of LA-MRSA in South Africa, specifically the most frequent sequence type ST398, globally. Furthermore, we aimed to highlight the importance of LA-MRSA in clinical and food security, as well as this research gap in South Africa. This review sheds light on the prevalence of heavy metals in livestock farms and abattoirs, and focuses on the phenomenon of the co-selection of heavy metal and antibiotic resistance genes in MRSA, emphasizing the importance of a focused direction for research in humans, animals as well as environment using one-health approach.

<p>Molecular Detection Of Multidrug-Resistant <em>Salmonella</em> Isolated From Livestock Production Systems In South Africa</p>

“…61 In addition, imprudent use of antibiotics in livestock farms was recently reported in South Africa. 62 The findings in the current study were in line with other studies which reported high resistance rates towards ampicillin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. [63][64][65] Higher resistance rates against azithromycin (16.9%) and ceftriaxone (24.07%) were previously reported 66 as compared to the current study.…”

Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in farm animals and breeders in North of Morocco

“…In contrast, some studies investigating the distribution of S. aureus in different ecological niches from livestock in Algeria [27,28] reported prevalence rates that are ranging from 18% to 53%f or S. aureus and 5.4% to 7.6% for MRSA. Moreover, a recent study conducted by Dweba et al [13], in South African livestock production systems identi ed MRSA isolates in 27% with a signi cant relationship (p < 0.001) with the animal host.…”

“…The emergence of LA-MRSA has also been increasingly associated with alarming rates of MRSA infection and colonization among humans in contact with livestock, suggesting an increased risk of zoonotic transmission [9,10]. These pathogenic strains could be subsequently dispersed to the environment and to other species [7] through food chain [11] and direct contact [12,13,14]. Numerous studies have indicated that the increasing rate of the incidence of antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus in animals is a result of the misuse and unjusti ed utilization of antibiotics [11,14,15] in animal husbandry either, for therapeutic, preventive purposes or as growth promoters (GPs).…”

One Health Approach Reveals the Absence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Autochthonous Cattle and Their Environments

“…Reports of mecC MRSA are presently uncommon and have been restricted to Europe; however, mecC MRSA represent a potential diagnostic problem due to the reliance on mecA or PBP2a/2′ detection for MRSA diagnosis (Paterson et al, 2014). Hence, livestock and livestock production systems have been reported to act as potential reservoirs for the emergence of new MRSA clones with the capacity to cross the species barrier and endure host-adaptive evolution, showing potential to become established in human populations worldwide as successful epidemic lineages (Spoor et al, 2013;Dweba et al, 2018). However, among the 195 cattle, 63 human and 83 environmental samples recovered from the 12 different farms included in this study and only one human sample was positive for presumptive MRSA colonies.…”

“…Staphylococcus aureus is a robust and versatile opportunistic pathogen that can survive in a diversity of environments (Sergelidis and Angelidis, 2017). It is frequently present in the natural flora of the nose and skin of both humans and animals, being also isolated from foods, food production systems and the environment, causing a range of illnesses from minor skin infections and food poisoning to life-threatening diseases (Cuny et al, 2015;Dweba et al, 2018;Gajdács, 2019). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is considered the first representative of multidrug-resistant bacteria and currently represents a global burden since it is resistant to almost all beta-lactams and can also show resistance to other major antimicrobial classes such as the fluoroquinolones (Gajdács, 2019).…”