Transmission of MRSA between companion animals and infected human patients presenting to outpatient medical care facilities

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 6; no. 11; p. e26978
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Jorge Pinto, Anderson, Kevin L, Correa, Maria T, Lyman, Roberta, Ruffin, Felicia, Reller, L Barth, Fowler, Jr, Vance G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10-11-2011; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Ambulatory Care; Animal control; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Biology; Carrier State - microbiology; Carrier State - transmission; Case-Control Studies; Cat Diseases - microbiology; Cat Diseases - transmission; Cats; Clinics; Comparative analysis; Disease transmission; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Dog Diseases - microbiology; Dog Diseases - transmission; Dogs; Drug resistance; Epidemiology; Gel electrophoresis; Health care; Health services; Hospitals; Households; Humans; Infection; Infections; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Medicine; Methicillin; Methicillin Resistance; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Patients; Pets; Population; Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; Questionnaires; Science Policy; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcal Infections - transmission; Staphylococcus; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus infections; Staphylococcus infections; Veterinary colleges; Veterinary medicine; Veterinary Science; Veterinary services; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026978

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a significant pathogen in both human and veterinary medicine. The importance of companion animals as reservoirs of human infections is currently unknown. The companion animals of 49 MRSA-infected outpatients (cases) were screened for MRSA carriage, and their bacterial isolates were compared with those of the infected patients using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). Rates of MRSA among the companion animals of MRSA-infected patients were compared to rates of MRSA among companion animals of pet guardians attending a "veterinary wellness clinic" (controls). MRSA was isolated from at least one companion animal in 4/49 (8.2%) households of MRSA-infected outpatients vs. none of the pets of the 50 uninfected human controls. Using PFGE, patient-pets MRSA isolates were identical for three pairs and discordant for one pair (suggested MRSA inter-specie transmission p-value = 0.1175). These results suggest that companion animals of MRSA-infected patients can be culture-positive for MRSA, representing a potential source of infection or re-infection for humans. Further studies are required to better understand the epidemiology of MRSA human-animal inter-specie transmission.