Occurrence of livestock-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus au reus (laMRSA) in domestic pigs and wild boars in Germany

In order to identify differences in the frequency of MRSA in conventional pig herds compared to organic pig herds, and wild boars in Germany, three different studies on the occurrence of MRSA were conducted. The results show a considerably higher amount of MRSA-positive pigs in conventional herds than in pigs of organic herds and in wild boars (no MRSA were found in the tested wild boars). All MRSA isolates belong to the clonal line MRSA ST398, which is known as livestock-associated MRSA (laMRSA). Our two hypotheses for the considerably higher occurrence of MRSA in conventional pig production arc: a) the circulation of this special clonal line laMRSA ST398 between conventional pig herds and b) better MRSA transmission conditions because of a higher pig density in conventional pig production systems than in organic pig pig production systems or in the wild boar population