EN
The objectives of this review were to characterize published data on the prevalence and epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and colonization in the following animals: cats, dogs, horses and food animals, especially swine. The mentioned reservoir was evaluated in relation to the possibility people in contact with animals becoming infected. This was enabled by using such molecular typing methods as: pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), SCCmec, spa typing and multiplex PCR. Basing on these tests for the species Staphylococcus aureus and particularly MRSA strains, sequence types and clonal lineages or genetic clones were differentiated. This enabled the identification of strains primarily originating from animals and humans infected from this source, or vice versa. In many publications the clonal complex ST398 of MRSA strains has been found to be an important reservoir in pigs, horses, poultry, dogs and cats. This MRSA clone has also been shown to be capable of infecting humans, therefore it is called zoonotic. Since the pig reservoir of the mentioned MRSA clone seems to be of particular importance for public health, the European Food Safety Authority of the European Union has decided to start a survey in 2008 on the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in breeding pigs with the participation of EU member countries, including Poland. It is anticipated that all participants will use the same methodology.