Livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among human MRSA isolates, European Union/European Economic Area countries, 2013

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles 2017-11, Vol.22 (44)
• Main Authors: Kinross, Pete, Petersen, Andreas, Skov, Robert, Van Hauwermeiren, Evelyn, Pantosti, Annalisa, Laurent, Frédéric, Voss, Andreas, Kluytmans, Jan, Struelens, Marc J, Heuer, Ole, Monnet, Dominique L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteriology; Disease transmission; Health surveillance; Immunology; Life Sciences; Livestock; Microbiology and Parasitology; Staphylococcus infections; Surveillance and Outbreak Report; Virology
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917; 1025-496X
• DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.44.16-00696

Currently, surveillance of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant (LA-MRSA) in humans in Europe is not systematic but mainly event-based. In September 2014, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) initiated a questionnaire to collect data on the number of LA-MRSA from human samples (one isolate per patient) from national/regional reference laboratories in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries in 2013. Identification of LA-MRSA as clonal complex (CC) 398 by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was preferred, although surrogate methods such as -typing were also accepted. The questionnaire was returned by 28 laboratories in 27 EU/EEA countries. Overall, LA-MRSA represented 3.9% of 13,756 typed MRSA human isolates, but it represented ≥ 10% in five countries (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia). Seven of the reference laboratories did not type MRSA isolates in 2013. To monitor the dispersion of LA-MRSA and facilitate targeted control measures, we advocate periodic systematic surveys or integrated multi-sectorial surveillance.