Individual predisposition to Staphylococcus aureus colonization in pigs on the basis of quantification, carriage dynamics, and serological profiles.

ABSTRACT: Previous research on Staphylococcus aureus in pigs focused on livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and had a qualitative cross-sectional design. This study aimed to elucidate the frequency, load, and stability of S. aureus nasal carriage in pigs over time and investigated possible associations between carriage and immune response. Nasal swabs were collected three times weekly from 480 tagged adult pigs in 20 Danish production farms. S. aureus and MRSA were quantified on selective media by the most-probable-number method. The levels of IgG against 10 S. aureus antigens in serum were quantified in selected pigs by a Luminex assay. All the farms were positive for S. aureus and 15 for MRSA, leading to overall prevalences of persistent and intermittent carriers and noncar

SUBMITTER: Espinosa-Gongora C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4309706 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature