Vets will be geting human MRSA via companion animals and acting as petri dishes for interaction with the pig varient. Not a good scenario
Seemingly healthy animals are sometimes colonized with the bacteria, and there is evidence humans can both transmit it to animals and become colonized or infected from them. Infections have been reported in horses, dogs, cats, pet birds, cattle, and pigs, the backgrounder states.
The publication says veterinarians are at risk of becoming MRSA reservoirs. About 6.5 percent of practitioners who attended the 2005 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum and volunteered for testing were colonized with MRSA. None had been recently hospitalized or previously had the infection diagnosed.
Of those volunteers, about 4.4 percent of small animal practitioners and about 15.6 percent of large animal practitioners were colonized.
About one percent of the general public is colonized with MRSA and 30 percent with Staphylococcus, according to information from CDC spokeswoman Nicole Coffin.
The AVMA backgrounder says veterinarians need to practice proper hygiene and educate others who come into contact with infected animals how to minimize risks.
To read the publication, go to www.avma.org, click on the Reference tab, and follow the Animal Health link. FAQ sections are available through links on the side of the full article.
AVMA backgrounder cautions practitioners about risks of MRSA – November 15, 2008.
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