Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in poultry- an emerging concern related to future epidemic

Methicillin resistant – Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an organism responsible for causing deadly infections in man, poultry and several other animal species. Ever since the discovery of MRSA in decade of 1960’s, it has been isolated and reported in live poultry birds and their meat products worldwide. Strikingly, MRSA recovered from poultry share a common ancestry with MRSA isolates of human and animal origin. Furthermore, MRSA colonizes the skin and mucous membranes of both man and poultry. This colonizing ability of MRSA is not only a cause of non-responsive infections in poultry but it can also be transferred to the humans handling birds at farms and slaughter houses. Moreover, the consumers of poultry meat can also acquire its infection. The cases of cross infections of MRSA between poultry and human has been reported. However, the most important difficulty to control MRSA and its interspecies transmission is the irrational use of antimicrobial drugs and inadequate biosecurity measures. Therefore, rational usage of antimicrobials and good biosecurity measures need to be adopted for prevention and control of zoonotic MRSA infections. This paper reviews the existing status of MRSA in poultry as a possible threat of zoonosis.