MRSA: Horses and Handlers Are Sharing More Than Quality Time

A recent study confirms that strains of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in found in companion animals–including horses–resemble strains found in humans. According to Frances Moore, DVM, veterinary pathologist, and Sanjay Shukla, PhD, molecular microbiologist at Marshfield Labs and Marshfield Clinical Research Foundation in Marshfield, Wis., this means that …
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A recent study confirms that strains of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in found in companion animals–including horses–resemble strains found in humans. According to Frances Moore, DVM, veterinary pathologist, and Sanjay Shukla, PhD, molecular microbiologist at Marshfield Labs and Marshfield Clinical Research Foundation in Marshfield, Wis., this means that horses and humans are likely sharing germs.

More so, Shukla says that the recent study presents detailed genetic characteristics of the MRSA bacteria they found in horses that typically have not been described by previous studies.

Researchers used a variety of samples from several different animals–including horses, dogs, cats, and pig–and from humans, noting whether they shared similar strains of resistant organisms.

Moore hypothesizes that humans were first infected with the MRSA bacteria and passed them on to their animal companions, rather than humans contracting the bacteria from their animals

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