MRSA More Common in Horse People

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterial infections have become hot news lately, especially among horse people. This topic likely won’t die down soon because recent research shows that MRSA is up to 10 times more common in equine
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterial infections have become hot news lately, especially among horse people. This topic likely won’t die down soon because recent research shows that MRSA is up to 10 times more common in equine veterinarians than in the general population–and that it can spread from horses to humans.

"MRSA appears to be an occupational risk factor for large-animal veterinarians," noted Maureen Anderson, DVM, DVSc, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathobiology of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

At the 2008 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention, held Dec. 6-10 in San Diego, Calif., Anderson discussed MRSA biology, prevalence, and recent research. She reported that MRSA can cause many different problems, from superficial skin/soft tissue infections to necrotizing (tissue-killing) pneumonia. Some hospital-associated strains in humans are resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics, leaving very few effective treatment options for people who become infected. There is increasing concern that some strains might ultimately develop resistance to these few remaining antibiotic weapons.

Share

Written by:

Christy West has a BS in Equine Science from the University of Kentucky, and an MS in Agricultural Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
309 votes · 309 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!