mrsa bij het paard

Abstract

MRSA by horses A lot of research was done to study the prevalence of MRSA by dutch horses. The most important study is descriped below. Aims: To assess the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in horses at the Dutch University Clinic and the possible nosocomial transmission of MRSA. Methods: During a five week period, samples of the nares of all equine patients (n=260) just before entering the clinic were taken. In this same period, sampling of the nares of all hospitalised patients (n=151) was performed weekly (five times). Furthermore, students and staff (n=113) were tested and environmental samples (n=36) were taken. Samples were analysed for the presence of MRSA. Positive samples were confirmed by poly chain reaction (PCR) for the mecA-gen. Results: Nearly 10% of the horses entering the clinic were MRSA positive at arrival and 42% of all hospitalised horses at the clinic were MRSA positive. 38 of the hospitalised MRSA positive horses were not sampled before they entered the clinic, 21 were MRSA negatief at admission and 4 were already positive at admissionindicating that nosocomial transmission occurred. MRSA was detected in 53% of the environmental samples and 13% of samples from students and staff. Conclusions and Practical Significance: The prevalence of MRSA in horses admitted to this equine clinic was high and even higher for hospitalised patients. Also, the presence of MRSA in environmental samples and students and staff suggests that transmission between horses and humans (nosocomial infection) occurs in equine clinics. Hence, close contact with horses may be considered a risk factor for MRSA infection in humans. Furthermore, the fact that 10% of hospitalised horses is MRSA positive at admittance, creates a challenge for the management of MRSA in equine clinics. The emphasis should be put on control, and specifically general hygiene.