Multidrug-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Colonizing Pigs and Farm Workers in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: Potential Interspecies Transmission of Livestock-Associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) ST398
Joana Talim,
Ianick Martins,
Cassio Messias,
Hellen Sabino,
Laura Oliveira,
Tatiana Pinto,
Julia Albuquerque,
Aloysio Cerqueira,
Ítalo Dolores,
Beatriz Moreira,
Renato Silveira,
Felipe Neves,
Renata Rabello
Affiliations
Joana Talim
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Ianick Martins
Faculty of Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24033-900, RJ, Brazil
Cassio Messias
Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco 69915-900, AC, Brazil
Hellen Sabino
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Laura Oliveira
Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, RJ, Brazil
Tatiana Pinto
Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, RJ, Brazil
Julia Albuquerque
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Aloysio Cerqueira
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Ítalo Dolores
Departament of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 01246-903, SP, Brazil
Beatriz Moreira
Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, RJ, Brazil
Renato Silveira
Department of Morphology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24210-130, RJ, Brazil
Felipe Neves
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Renata Rabello
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24020-150, RJ, Brazil
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus aureus has been increasingly isolated from pigs and people in close contact with them, especially livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (LA-MRSA). In this cross-sectional study, we investigated S. aureus colonization in pigs and farm workers, their resistance profile, and genetic background to estimate interspecies transmission potential within farms from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, between 2014 and 2019. We collected nasal swabs from 230 pigs and 27 workers from 16 and 10 farms, respectively. Five MDR strains were subjected to whole genome sequencing. Fourteen (6.1%) pigs and seven (25.9%) humans were colonized with S. aureus, mostly (64–71%) MDR strains. Resistance to clindamycin, erythromycin, penicillin, and tetracycline was the most common among the pig and human strains investigated. MDR strains shared several resistance genes [blaZ, dfrG, fexA, lsa(E), and tet(M)]. Pig and human strains recovered from the same farm shared the same genetic background and antimicrobial resistance profile. LA-MRSA ST398-SCCmecV-t011 was isolated from pigs in two farms and from a farm worker in one of them, suggesting interspecies transmission. The association between pig management practices and MDR S. aureus colonization might be investigated in additional studies.
