Jangsangthong Arunee, Suriyakhun Nawarat, Tunyong Witawat, Kong-Ngoen Thida, Santajit Sirijan, Indrawattana Nitaya, Buranasinsup Shutipen
Department of Pre-clinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakornpathom 73710, Thailand.
Prasu-Arthorn Animal Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhonpathom 73170, Thailand.
Vet World. 2022 Nov;15(11):2699-2704. doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2699-2704. Epub 2022 Nov 27.
Methicillin-resistant globally, (MRSA) is a major cause of disease in both humans and animals. Several studies have documented the presence of MRSA in healthy and infected animals. However, there is less information on MRSA occurrence in exotic pets, especially healthy rabbits. This study aimed to look into the antimicrobial resistance profile, hidden antimicrobial-resistant genes in isolated bacteria, and to estimate prevalence of MRSA in healthy rabbits.
Two-hundreds and eighteen samples, including 42 eyes, 44 ears, 44 oral, 44 ventral thoracic, and 44 perineal swabs, were taken from 44 healthy rabbits that visited the Prasu-Arthorn Animal Hospital, in Nakornpathom, Thailand, from January 2015 to March 2016. The traditional methods of Gram stain, mannitol fermentation, hemolysis on blood agar, catalase test, and coagulase production were used to confirm the presence of in all specimens. All bacterial isolates were determined by antimicrobial susceptibility test by the disk diffusion method. The polymerase chain reaction was used to identify the antimicrobial-resistant genes (Z, A, AD, A, K, A, A, and G) in isolates of MRSA with a cefoxitin-resistant phenotype.
From 218 specimens, 185 were isolated, with the majority of these being found in the oral cavity (29.73%) and ventral thoracic area (22.7%), respectively. Forty-seven (25.41%) MRSAs were found in isolates, with the majority of these being found in the perineum (16, 34.04%) and ventral thoracic area (13, 27.66%) specimens. Among MRSAs, 29 (61.7%) isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. Most of MRSA isolates were resistant to penicillin (100%), followed by ceftriaxone (44.68%) and azithromycin (44.68%). In addition, these bacteria contained the most drug-resistance genes, Z (47.83%), followed by A (36.17%) and K (23.4%).
This study revealed that MRSA could be found even in healthy rabbits. Some MRSAs strains were MDR-MRSA, which means that when an infection occurs, the available antibiotics were not effective in treating it. To prevent the spread of MDR-MRSA from pets to owners, it may be helpful to educate owners about effective prevention and hygiene measures.
耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）是人和动物疾病的主要病因。多项研究记录了健康动物和感染动物体内存在MRSA。然而，关于外来宠物尤其是健康兔子中MRSA的发生情况，相关信息较少。本研究旨在探究分离细菌的抗菌药物耐药谱、隐藏的抗菌耐药基因，并估计健康兔子中MRSA的流行率。
2015年1月至2016年3月期间，从泰国佛统府Prasu-Arthorn动物医院就诊的44只健康兔子身上采集了218份样本，包括42份眼部、44份耳部、44份口腔、44份胸前部和44份会阴部拭子。采用革兰氏染色、甘露醇发酵、血琼脂平板溶血、过氧化氢酶试验和凝固酶产生等传统方法确认所有标本中是否存在[具体细菌名称未给出]。所有细菌分离株均采用纸片扩散法进行抗菌药物敏感性试验。聚合酶链反应用于鉴定具有头孢西丁耐药表型的MRSA分离株中的抗菌耐药基因（Z、A、AD、A、K、A、A和G）。
从218份标本中分离出185株[具体细菌名称未给出]，其中大部分分别在口腔（29.73%）和胸前部区域（22.7%）被发现。在分离出的[具体细菌名称未给出]中发现了47株（25.41%）MRSA，其中大部分在会阴部（16株，34.04%）和胸前部区域（13株，27.66%）标本中被发现。在MRSA中，29株（61.7%）分离株为多重耐药（MDR）菌株。大多数MRSA分离株对青霉素耐药（100%），其次是头孢曲松（44.68%）和阿奇霉素（44.68%）。此外，这些细菌含有最多的耐药基因，Z（47.83%），其次是A（36.17%）和K（23.4%）。
本研究表明，即使在健康兔子中也能发现MRSA。一些MRSA菌株为MDR-MRSA，这意味着当感染发生时，现有的抗生素对其治疗无效。为防止MDR-MRSA从宠物传播给主人，对主人进行有效的预防和卫生措施教育可能会有所帮助。
