By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsWhen it comes to public health concerns about staphylococcal bacteria from pets, most of the attention gets paid to methicillin-resistant strains like MRSA. That’s not surprising considering how important MRSA is in human medicine. However, staph that aren’t methicillin-resistant can also be a problem, since they can cause the same types of infections that resistant types… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Pocket petsThe more we look, the more we find when it comes to MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). As people start looking for it in different animal species, it’s often found. We’ve found it in many species already, including dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, walruses, dolphins and alpacas, so it’s not a big surprise to see a recent… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI have no problem with people considering "alternative" therapies for the treatment of infections. I perform research on non-antibiotic alternatives and hope that results pan out in the field. I have problems, however, with people that use unproven alternative therapies in lieu of proven conventional treatment or stray from the "do no harm" philosophy. I read… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsToday (like most days) I answered questions about the potential for transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) between people and pets. We have a long way to go before we fully understand the issues, but research continues to progress and we’re learning more and more. A recent study by Dr. Engeline van Duijkeren and colleagues from… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe ever-popular methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) owner information sheet has been updated and can be found, along with info sheets on many other topics, on the Worms & Germs Resources page.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThere are a number of published studies regarding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage by veterinarians, most reporting high rates compared to the general population. This is a concern because MRSA is an important cause of disease in both people and animals. Just having MRSA living in your nose doesn’t mean you’re going to get sick. Indeed, around… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhen I give presentations to veterinarians about infection control, I often talk about legal liability as one reason they need a good infection control program. I talk about the potential bad scenarios, such as someone getting an MRSA infection from an animal and then turning around and suing the vet. I usually say something like "I don’t think… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe title of this post describes a very basic concept, but one that is sometimes forgotten or hard to follow. The key point is that the goal of treating a sick pet is to make the pet well. Getting well and getting "normal" laboratory data aren’t necessarily the same thing. A question that comes up… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsI get this question a lot, from both pet owners and veterinarians. Typically, my answer is "no." Why not? The two big questions I always ask are "why do you want to know and what would you do with the results?" Sometimes people want to know their pet’s MRSA status to see if the pet was… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSPAs multidrug-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) become more common in pets, there are increasing questions about how to manage animals that carry them. A particular issue is what to do with carriers – animals that don’t have any sign of disease but still carry the bacterium. A small but increasing percentage of healthy… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsMethicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) get a lot of media attention because of the ever increasing numbers of infections in dogs and cats, and concerns about transmission to people. However, there are many other methicllin-resistant staph of varying relevances. One is an interesting related bug called Staphylococcus schleiferi. There are actually… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe internet can be a strange place at times. You can find great, reputable and unbiased information right next to complete garbage. Often, the garbage is pretty apparent, but sometimes it’s dressed up well or mixed in with some good information. That’s a problem with veterinary advice and information sites. Among the creative myths identified… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSPIt’s amazing how attached people are to their cell phones. Many people will answer them without any thought of what else is going on. It’s something I’ve seen in veterinary hospitals where wireless or cell phones are the primary mode of internal communication. The natural tendency to answer the phone often overrides the thought process… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) is becoming a huge problem in dogs (and to a lesser degree cats). I think it can easily be called an epidemic, and probably even a pandemic, considering the degree of spread, the massive increase in cases and the international distribution of this multidrug-resistant bacterium. Public health concerns regarding MRSP have… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsA study we just published in the journal Veterinary Record (Floras et al 2010) described an MRSA outbreak in a dog breeding kennel. That’s a little unusual in itself, but considering how MRSA is spreading amongst the dog population, it’s not really astounding. What was unique about this outbreak was the strain of MRSA that… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in HorsesMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a huge problem in people and is an emerging pathogen in horses. Most earlier reports of MRSA in horses involved one strain, called CMRSA-5 in Canada, USA500 in the US, and sequence type 8 (ST8) as a more general term. This human-origin strain seems to be adapted for survival in horses,… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI was giving a talk on infection control at a conference in Geneva a couple of days ago, and during a discussion with someone after the talk, I told them to "Live every day like you have MRSA." Not surprisingly, I got a bit of a strange look in response. I wasn’t trying to say, "live… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhen multiple studies report the same results, it gets more and more convincing that the findings are true. This is becoming the case with antibiotic use as a risk factor for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in dogs. Late last year, I wrote about a study of ours that identified prior antibiotic use as a… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’m not sure what to think about the recent increase in scientific papers about Staphylococcus pseudintermedius infections in people. This dog-associated bacterium has been well known for quite a while, and human infections have been sporadically reported, but it seems like there has been a big increase in reported cases over the past year. The… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsA large percentage of advice calls that I get about methicillin-resistant staph infections in dogs are regarding skin infections. Skin infections (pyoderma) are a common problem, a leading cause of antibiotic use in dogs, and an often frustrating problem for vets and pet owners alike. One problem is that, unlike many other types of infections, skin… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWarm spells in early spring, like the recent warm spell in our area, inevitably lead to (premature) thoughts of summer, and for many people, this includes thoughts of spending time in the swimming pool. I’ve previously written about the presumably low risk of disease transmission from dogs swimming in pools, and common sense measures that… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSPThis is a question I get a few times a week. Because methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) infections are becoming so common and people are aware of potential concerns regarding transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from pets to people, it’s a logical concern. Here’s my basic thought process when answering this common question: Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is very… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSPAntibiotic resistant bacteria are a huge problem in human medicine, and they’re an increasing problem in veterinary medicine. In pets, we are seeing dramatic increases in multidrug-resistant bacteria, some as a result of transmission from humans and some that are developing in animals. Regardless of the source, infections caused by resistant bacteria are a major… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsA paper in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Durdik et al 2010) describes a case of meningitis in an 11-month-old child caused by S. intermedius. (Presumably, the bacterium was actually S. pseudintermedius and they’re behind the times on identification of / nomenclature of this bacterium). This is the first report of this bacterium as… Continue Reading
