Occurrence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in Different Animal Species in Eastern Algeria

Abstract

Background: Several animal species may act as a possible reservoir for transmission of MRSA to human. The aim of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles of Staphylococci from animals.Methods: A total of 754 nasal and rectal swab samples collected from apparently healthy animals at Batna and Setif governorate, eastern Algeria. For this purpose, we studied the antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates by conventional methods (Disk diffusion test and methicillin resistance by Cefoxitin disk diffusion test).Result: The overall prevalence of S. aureus isolates from 754 samples was 43.61%, with a high rate of S. aureus isolation in rabbits (92%). Goats, bovine, dogs, cats, horses, poultry presented a medium prevalence with 31.91%, 25%, 23.75% 21.25%,15% and 15% respectively, while the lowest rate was observed in sheep with 10%. MRSA were isolated in all animal species (29.46%). All detected isolates were multiple drug resistant (MDR). A complete resistance (100%) was noted for ciprofloxacin and gentamicin in sheep and horses and to penicillin in dogs. MRSA is a serious problem for human and animal health; therefore, several experiments must be carried out to demonstrate possible transmission of MRSA between companion or food-chain animals and humans, as well as some MRSA clones of human origin that have adapted to new animal hosts eventually by losing useless virulence factors or acquiring new mobile genetic elements.