Prevalence and Characterization of and Methicillin-Resistant on Public Recreational Beaches in Northeast Ohio.

can cause severe life-threatening illnesses such as sepsis and endocarditis. Although has been isolated from marine water and intertidal beach sand, only a few studies have been conducted to assess prevalence of at freshwater recreational beaches. As such, we aimed to determine prevalence and molecular characteristics of in water and sand at 10 freshwater recreational beaches in Northeast Ohio, USA. Samples were analyzed using standard microbiology methods, and resulting isolates were typed by typing and multilocus sequence typing. The overall prevalence of in sand and water samples was 22.8% (64/280). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) was 8.2% (23/280). The highest prevalence was observed in summer (45.8%; 55/120) compared to fall (4.2%; 5/120) and spring (10.0%; 4/40). The overall prevalence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes among isolates was 21.4% (15/70), and 27 different types were identified. The results of this study indicate that beach sand and freshwater of Northeast Ohio were contaminated with , including MRSA. The high prevalence of in summer months and presence of human-associated strains may indicate the possibility of role of human activity in contamination of beach water and sand. While there are several possible routes for contamination, prevalence was higher in sites with wastewater treatment plants proximal to the beaches.