MRSA Reported in Northern Irish Pig

NORTHERN IRELAND - Veterinarians have reported what they believe to be the first case of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in a pig in the United Kingdom.
calendar icon 31 July 2014
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The isolation of LA-MRSA from a post-weaning piglet in Northern Ireland has been reported in Veterinary Record by Helen Hartley of Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and others.

While LA-MRSA is a relatively common finding in pigs in some EU countries, they believe this to be the first reported isolation of LA-MRSA from a pig in the UK.

The piglet was one of a group of five piglets submitted to the Omagh disease surveillance laboratory of AFBI in May 2014 with a history of pneumonia and wasting. There was a history of 10 per cent piglet post-weaning mortality over the previous two to three months on the farm involved.

In November 2013, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) reported identifying the presence of LA-MRSA in poultry on a farm in East Anglia.

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