J Vet Sci.  2020 Jan;21(1):e2. 10.4142/jvs.2020.21.e2.

Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Korea: antimicrobial resistance and molecular characteristics of LA-MRSA strains isolated from pigs, pig farmers, and farm environment

• Back SH
• Eom HS
• Lee HH
• Lee GY
• Park KT
• Yang SJ

• KMID: 2469017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2020.21.e2

Abstract

The emergence of livestock-associated (LA)-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock animal has become a significant zoonotic concern. In the present study, we investigated nationwide prevalence of LA-MRSA across pork production chain including pig farms, slaughterhouses, and retail markets. A total of 40 MRSA strains were isolated during the investigation and the overall prevalence of MRSA was 3.4% (n = 37), 0.6% (n = 2), and 0.4% (n = 1) in pig farms, slaughterhouses, and retail markets, respectively. Multilocus sequence typing analyses revealed that the 2 most significant clonal lineages in pork production chain in Korea were ST398 (n = 25) and ST541 (n = 6). All of the 40 MRSA isolates were further characterized to investigate key genotypic and phenotypic correlates associated with the emergence and spread of clonal complex 398 (CC398; ST398, and ST541) LA-MRSA. Although the prevalence of swine-associated MRSA was still relatively low and mostly restricted to pig farms, multidrug-resistant CC398 LA-MRSA isolates with new spa types (t18102 and t18103) were identified as a major clonal lineage. The CC398 LA-MRSA strains tended to exhibit increased levels of multiple drug resistance (MDR) phenotype compared with non-CC398 MRSA strains. Of note, in comparison with non-CC398 MRSA isolates, CC398 LA-MRSA isolates exhibited significantly enhanced tetracycline (TET) and zinc resistance. These findings suggested that co-selection pressure associated with MDR phenotype, especially TET resistance, and zinc resistance may have played a significant role in the emergence and persistence of CC398 LA-MRSA in pig farms in Korea.

Keyword

MRSA; swine; CC398; antimicrobial resistance; zinc resistance

MeSH Terms

Abattoirs
Agriculture*
Animals
Drug Resistance, Multiple
Farmers*
Korea*
Livestock
Methicillin Resistance*
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*
Multilocus Sequence Typing
Phenotype
Prevalence
Red Meat
Staphylococcus aureus
Swine*
Tetracycline
Zinc
Tetracycline
Zinc