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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 31/402 [7.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.5% to 10.7%] of samples. Adjusted for clustering at the provincial level, the prevalence was 5.8% (95% CI% 2.2% to 14.4%). The most common clone was Canadian epidemic MRSA (CMRSA)-5 (12/31, 39%), which has been widely identified in horses and horse personnel, but not in pigs. Ten of the 31 (32%) isolates were nontypable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and belonged to spa 539/t034, a clone that is associated with food animals internationally. Nine (29%) isolates were CMRSA-2, a common human epidemic clone that has been found in pigs in Canada.
While the relevance of contamination of retail meat is currently unclear, further study is required to determine if food may be a source of infection.
J. S. Weese, R. Reid-Smith, J. Rousseau and B. Avery. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination of retail pork. Can. Vet. J. 2010. Vol. 50: 749-52..
