To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the prevalence of LAMRSA
among pigs, farm workers and the environment in Thailand. Therefore,
continuous efforts to monitor of MRSA in these populations are required for detecting
changes in epidemiology and for the implementation of effective control measures in
livestock and human health. Meanwhile, conducting studies in different areas in Thailand, such as the central or eastern part of the country where the highest pig
population reside, should be performed. Limitation of this study were the sampling
method did not use a stratified sampling technique to study a specific production system
and the study was somewhat under-powered, because observed MRSA prevalence was
lower than expected MRSA prevalence used in sample size calculations. Moreover, of
104, only one farm had MRSA positive samples from pigs. Techniques for isolation and
detection of MRSA should be considered. Other works had demonstrated that the
prevalence of MRSA in pigs in Thailand might be quite high according to the low
number of samples had been tested.
In conclusion, this study provides the first evidence of MRSA prevalence
among pigs, workers and environment in Thailand, although the prevalence was low in
pig farms in Northern Thailand as compared to other countries. Characterized isolates
from workers and environment were MRSA-ST9-SCCmec IV. In addition, multi-drug
resistant MRSA isolates were observed. Continued efforts are required to monitor
MRSA in at-risk populations including livestock and slaughterhouse workers to detect
changes in epidemiology and to implement effective control measures.