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.