Veterinary Public Health, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2010 May;57(3):220-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01302.x. Epub 2009 Dec 23.
Animals provide benefits to elderly and chronically ill people by decreasing loneliness, increasing social interactions, and improving mental health. As a result, many hospitals and long-term care facilities allow family pets to visit ill or convalescing patients or support animal-assisted therapy programs. These include programs that have resident animals in long-term care facilities. Despite the benefits, there are concerns about disease transmission between pets and patients. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are a recognized problem in healthcare settings leading to refractory infections and potentially life-threatening illnesses. MRSA has been isolated from numerous animal species, yet few studies are available on the carriage of this pathogen in animals residing in long-term care facilities. Our objective was to characterize MRSA carriage among resident animals in a long-term care facility.
To document MRSA colonization, nasal swabs from 12 resident animals (one dogs and 11 cats) of a long-term care facility were collected weekly for 8 weeks. Staphylococcus isolates were characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility and MRSA isolates were further characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE isolate patterns were compared with an existing database of MRSA isolate patterns at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Two of 11 cats were colonized with MRSA. MRSA was recovered from five of eight weekly samples in one cat and two of eight weekly samples in the other cat. All isolates were classified as USA100 (healthcare-associated strains).
Long-term care resident animals may acquire MRSA. Clonally related strains were identified over the 8-week sampling period. It is unclear if pets serve as an on-going source of infection to their human companions in long-term care facilities.
描述长期护理机构中居民动物的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）携带情况。
为了记录 MRSA 的定植情况，每周采集 12 只长期护理机构居民动物（1 只狗和 11 只猫）的鼻拭子，共采集 8 周。通过药敏试验和脉冲场凝胶电泳（PFGE）对分离的金黄色葡萄球菌进行鉴定，对 MRSA 分离株进一步进行 PFGE 分析，并将 PFGE 分离株模式与明尼苏达州卫生署现有的 MRSA 分离株模式数据库进行比较。
11 只猫中有 2 只携带 MRSA。一只猫的 8 个每周样本中有 5 个，另一只猫的 8 个每周样本中有 2 个分离出 MRSA。所有分离株均被归类为 USA100（与医疗保健相关的菌株）。
长期护理居民动物可能会获得 MRSA。在 8 周的采样期间，发现了具有克隆相关株的 MRSA。目前尚不清楚宠物是否是长期护理机构中其人类同伴持续感染的来源。
