As MRSA in animals gets more attention, there have been increasing efforts to develop guidelines to reduce the incidence and impact of this important zoonotic pathogen. Among these are a set of recommendations developed in Finland for the prevention and control of MRSA infections in animals (or metisilliiniresistentti Staphylococcus aureus, as they would say
New BSAVA guidelines for MRSA/MRSP
The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has updated its practice guidelines for management of MRSA and MRSP.
Overall, there’s good information in the document with an emphasis on routine infection control as the key measure to reduce the impact of MRSP and MRSA. I’d like to see more emphasis on developing an overall
MRSA, spider bites and denial
Bites from the brown recluse spider (see photo left) can be pretty nasty, and produce tissue damage similar to a typical MRSA skin and soft tissue infection. Despite the epidemic of MRSA that’s ongoing in many regions, particularly the US, MRSA infections are still sometimes misdiagnosed as spider bites.
To a degree, I can see why this
MRSP in the park
As 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
Biohazardous cell phones
It’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
My dog has MRSP… Should I be concerned?
This 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
Big gun antibiotics in pets
Antibiotic 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
The good and bad of pet therapy
.An article about a therapy dog demonstrates some good points of these programs and places to improve. The story is about "Taco", a Chihuahua involved in pet therapy at the Livingston Regional Hospital (Tennessee). The obvious benefit of the program is highlighted by the owner’s comment "She creates smiles when there were
Staph pseudintermedius infection in a person
When I talk about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP), I usually say that the human health risks are low because human infections are very rare. However, rare doesn’t mean it can’t happen, as demonstrated by a case report entitled "Beware of the Pet Dog: A Case of Staphylococcus intermedius Infection" published in the American
MRSA outbreak in Dutch horses
At the ongoing ASM-ESCMID conference on methicillin resistant staphylococci in animals, Dr. Engeline van Duijkeren of Utrecht University (The Netherlands) presented a study on an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in their equine hospital.
From 2006-2008, several horses that underwent surgery at their hospital developed MRSA infections. MRSA was also isolated from some