Isolation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Retail Meats in Hong Kong

Abstract

The predominance of t899 in isolates indicates that the primary source of contamination may be pig carcasses, previously demonstrated to frequently harbor CC9-positive MRSA in Hong Kong and China. The high rates of meat contamination suggest that improvements in food safety and personal hygiene guidelines may be advisable to reduce risk of spread of these MRSA strains in the community.

Prevalence of Panton Valentine Leukocidin (pvl) Gene in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Market Samples of Chicken Meat

“…However, in India no reports are presently available on the prevalence of MRSA in retail meats, however higher MRSA (80 %) have been reported from human in hospital settings (Verma et al, 2000). Contrary to our findings lower prevalence of MRSA were recorded in various retail meats by Boost et al, (2013) in Hong Kong (4.4 to 21.9 %), Wang et al, (2013) in China (1.7%) and Eldaly et al, (2014) in Egypt (5 to 15 %). The literature clearly suggested that there is a considerable variation in the prevalence of MRSA in different countries and the variation may be attributed to factors like sample size, sampling and culture methods, regulation in use of antibiotics in farm animals, monitoring systems in place for use of antibiotics as growth promoters, unhygienic slaughter/ processing as well as regular screening of retail samples to evaluate the present status of MRSA.…”

Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Molecular Typing of Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureusin Retail Foods in Shaanxi, China

“…In contrast, no MRSA ST398 isolates were detected in this study, but methicillin-sensitive S. aureus ST398 clones were detected in chicken and RTE foods in our study (data not shown). Many MRSA isolates from animal-derived products (pork, chicken, and raw milk) belonged to MRSA ST9-t899, which was in agreement with previous reports showing that the MRSA ST9-t899 clone is predominant in food animals (Cui et al, 2009;Guardabassi et al, 2009;Wagenaar et al, 2009) and retail pork (Boost et al, 2013) in China. Contamination with MRSA ST9-t899 in foods may be attributable to cross-contamination during slaughtering or food processing.…”

Livestock-Associated MRSA and Its Current Evolution

“…LA-MRSA CC9 isolates with NT SCCmec cassettes also have been described in Taiwan [78,137,138], and recently a novel SCCmec type with ccrAB type 1 and mec class C was found in ST9-t337 from Thailand [136]. Moreover, distribution of the different spa types also is country related: t899 predominates in China [139,140] and Hong Hong [141,144], t4358 in Malaysia [135], and t337 in Thailand [76,136]; however, other related spa types (such as t2922) have been found in LA-MRSA CC9 [140].…”

“…However, a recent study found a high nasal rate (40 %) of MRSA CC9 among pigs in Thailand [142]. MRSA CC9 isolates also have been detected in dust samples from pig farms in China [143] and at a low frequency in chickens and meat (chicken and beef) samples from Hong Kong [141,144]. Similarly, MRSA CC9 among pig farmers in Asian countries also appears low (5-19 %) [135,138,139].…”

“…LA-MRSA ST9 isolates carry different types of SCCmec depending on the country: types IV and V in Taiwan [78]; types III and IVb in China [139,140]; type IV, IVb, or V in Hong Kong [141,144,145]; type V in Malaysia [135]; and type IX in Thailand [142,146]. LA-MRSA CC9 isolates with NT SCCmec cassettes also have been described in Taiwan [78,137,138], and recently a novel SCCmec type with ccrAB type 1 and mec class C was found in ST9-t337 from Thailand [136].…”