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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1459-1463, Vol. 37, No. 5
Michigan State University College of
Veterinary Medicine, East Lansing, Michigan1;
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North
Carolina2; and University of Iowa, Iowa
City, Iowa3
Received 22 July 1998/Returned for modification 16 October
1998/Accepted 8 February 1999
During a 13-month period, 11 equine patients visiting a veterinary
teaching hospital for various diagnostic and surgical procedures developed postprocedural infections from which methicillin
(oxacillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains
were isolated. The S. aureus isolates were identified by
conventional methods that included Gram staining, tests for colonial
morphology, tests for clumping factor, and tests for coagulase and
urease activities and were also tested with the API STAPH IDENT system.
Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed by the disk diffusion
method. The biochemical profile and antibiogram of each isolate
suggested that the isolates may have come from a common source. Because
MRSA strains are very uncommon animal isolates but are rather common
human isolates, a nasal swab specimen for culture was collected
voluntarily from five persons associated with equine surgery and
recovery in an attempt to identify a possible source of the organisms.
MRSA strains were isolated from three of the five people, with one
person found to be colonized with two biotypes of MRSA. The MRSA
isolates from the people appeared to be identical to the isolates from
horses. Further study of the isolates included SmaI and
EagI macrorestriction analysis by pulsed-field gel
electrophoresis conducted in two different laboratories. The results
indicated that both the equine and human isolates were members of a
very closely related group which appear to have originated from a
common source. On the basis of the pattern associated with the
infection, it is speculated that the members of the Veterinary Teaching
Hospital staff were the primary source of the infection, although the
specific mode of transmission is unclear.
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Outbreak
in a Veterinary Teaching Hospital: Potential Human-to-Animal
Transmission
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State
University, A3-Veterinary Medical Center, East Lansing, MI 48824. Phone: (517) 353-2296. Fax: (517) 353-4426. E-mail:
walker{at}CVM.msu.edu.
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