MRSA Transmission between Cows and Humans

• DOI: 10.3201/eid1304.060833
• Publication Date: 2009-08-19T21:43:49Z
• Authors: Éva Juhász-Kaszan...; Szilárd Jánosi; Pál Somogyi; Ádám Dán; Linda vanderGraaf...; Engeline van Duij...; Jaap A. Wagenaar
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Staphylococcus aureus; Genotype; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; mastitis; spa-typing; strains; cows; 03 medical and health sciences; clones; pcr; Zoonoses; Animals; Humans; phage types; Mastitis, Bovine; SCCmec type; R; Dispatch; dispatch; PFGE; zoonosis; Staphylococcal Infections; methicillin-resistant; Anti-Bacterial Agents; 3. Good health; animals; Phenotype; resistant staphylococcus-aureus; Medicine; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Cattle; Methicillin Resistance; MLST

We isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from cows with subclinical mastitis and from a person who worked with these animals. The bovine and human strains were indistinguishable by phenotyping and genotyping methods and were of a low frequency spa type. To our knowledge, this finding indicates the first documented case of direct transmission of MRSA between cows and humans.