scholarly journals Outbreaks of Infection Caused by Community-Acquired Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureusin a Canadian Correctional Facility

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 343-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl L Main ◽  
Padman Jayaratne ◽  
Allan Haley ◽  
Candy Rutherford ◽  
Fiona Smaill ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) has been identified in prison settings in the United States. The present study investigated two clusters of skin and soft tissue infection caused by community-acquired (CA) MRSA in a correctional facility in southern Ontario.METHODS: Outbreak investigations were conducted by the responsible public health authority. Strain relatedness was assessed through comparison of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and antibiograms.RESULTS: Two distinct outbreaks of CAMRSA-associated disease occurred in 2002 and 2004. Most patients presented with abscesses in the lower extremities. All isolates had identical DNA banding patterns on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. One-half of the affected inmates resided in a cellblock with one other affected inmate. No other risk factors were identified.CONCLUSIONS: One of the first outbreaks of CAMRSA infections in a correctional facility in Canada is documented. Taken in conjunction with outbreaks elsewhere, this suggests that residence in correctional facilities may be a risk factor for CAMRSA infection.

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1871-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela R. F. Adkins ◽  
John R. Middleton ◽  
Lawrence K. Fox

Staphylococcus aureusis one of the most important pathogens causing contagious mastitis in dairy cattle worldwide. The objectives of this study were to determine if recently describedS. aureusgenotype B was present among previously characterized isolates from cases of bovine intramammary infection in the United States and to compare pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to the combination of ribosomal spacer PCR (RS-PCR) and virulence gene identification for typing ofS. aureusstrains. The hypothesis was that isolates that were previously characterized as contagious would be identified as genotype B and that the results of the two strain-typing methods would be comparable. Isolates were selected from a collection ofS. aureusisolates from eight dairy farms. Mammary quarter milk somatic cell count (SCC) andN-acetyl-β-d-gluconaminidase (NAGase) activity data were known and used to evaluate strain pathogenicity. RS-PCR was performed with conventional gel electrophoresis, and PCR was used for toxin gene identification. RS-PCR patterns were associated with a specific virulence gene pattern, as previously reported. Five RS-PCR banding patterns were identified. None of the isolates were characterized as genotype B. No association between RS-PCR types and milk SCC was found; however, NAGase activity was significantly higher in milk from mammary glands infected with RS-PCR banding type 1 (RSP type 1) than in milk from those infected with RSP type 2. The discriminatory power values were 1.0 and 0.46 for PFGE and RS-PCR, respectively. These data suggest that genotype B may have a limited geographic distribution and that PFGE is more discriminatory than RS-PCR performed with conventional gel electrophoresis for typing ofS. aureusisolates of bovine origin.


1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (02) ◽  
pp. 132-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Burket ◽  
Carol E. Chenoweth ◽  
Thomas L. Meyer ◽  
Neil L. Barg

AbstractWe present a 54-year-old male heart transplant recipient who developed mediastinitis caused byKlebsiella oxytocaandVeillonellaspecies. Culture of the donor's bronchus also grewK oxytocaand aVeillonellaspecies. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that theK oxytocaisolates had identical banding patterns. This case illustrates transmission of pathogenic bacteria via a contaminated organ.


1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Buchrieser ◽  
R. Brosch ◽  
B. Catimel ◽  
J. Rocourt

Recent food-borne outbreaks of human listeriosis as well as numerous sporadic cases have been mainly caused by Listeria monocytogenes serovar 4b strains. Thus, it was of interest to find out whether a certain clone or a certain few clones were responsible for these cases and especially for outbreaks., We used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of large chromosomal DNA restriction fragments generated by ApaI, SmaI, or NotI to analyse 75 L. monocytogenes strains isolated during six major and eight smaller recent listeriosis outbreaks. These strains could be divided into 20 different genomic varieties. Thirteen of 14 strains isolated during major epidemics in Switzerland (1983–1987), the United States (California, 1985) and Denmark (1985–1987) demonstrated indistinguishable DNA restriction patterns. In contrast, strains responsible for the outbreaks in Canada (Nova Scotia, 1981), the United States (Massachusetts, 1983), France (Anjou, 1975–1976), New Zealand (1969), and Austria (1986) and some smaller outbreaks in France (1987, 1988, 1989) were each characterized by particular combinations of DNA restriction patterns. Seventy-seven percent of the tested strains could be classified into the previously described ApaI group A (Brosch et al. 1991), demonstrating a very close genomic relatedness. Because 49% of the epidemic strains selected for this study belonged to phagovar 2389/2425/3274/2671/47/108/340 or 2389/47/108/340, fifty-six additional strains of these phagovars, isolated from various origins, were also typed to determine whether differences in DNA restriction profiles between epidemic and randomly selected strains of the same phagovars could be pointed out. Variations in DNA patterns appeared more frequently within randomly selected strains than within epidemic strains.Key words: Listeria monocytogenes, listeriosis, typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, epidemic.


1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 266-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Heurtin-Le Corre ◽  
Pierre-Yves Donnio ◽  
Monique Perrin ◽  
Marie-France Travert ◽  
Jean-Loup Avril

We determined the resistance to quinolone of 309 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Typhimurium strains isolated from humans and animals (cattle, pigs, or poultry) in 1995 or 1996. Nalidixic acid resistance increased from 8.5% in 1995 to 18.6% in 1996. The highest resistance levels correlated with a mutation at Ser-83 (or Asp-82). All strains remained ciprofloxacin susceptible. Human and animal isolates were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and the banding patterns of the human isolates most closely matched those of the bovine isolates.


1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2209-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Maslanka ◽  
Jared G. Kerr ◽  
Glen Williams ◽  
James M. Barbaree ◽  
Loretta A. Carson ◽  
...  

Clostridium perfringens is a common cause of food-borne illness. The illness is characterized by profuse diarrhea and acute abdominal pain. Since the illness is usually self-limiting, many cases are undiagnosed and/or not reported. Investigations are often pursued after an outbreak involving large numbers of people in institutions, at restaurants, or at catered meals. Serotyping has been used in the past to assist epidemiologic investigations of C. perfringensoutbreaks. However, serotyping reagents are not widely available, and many isolates are often untypeable with existing reagents. We developed a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method for molecular subtyping of C. perfringens isolates to aid in epidemiologic investigations of food-borne outbreaks. Six restriction endonucleases (SmaI, ApaI, FspI,MluI, KspI, and XbaI) were evaluated with a select panel of C. perfringens strains.SmaI was chosen for further studies because it produced 11 to 13 well-distributed bands of 40 to ∼1,100 kb which provided good discrimination between isolates. Seventeen distinct patterns were obtained with 62 isolates from seven outbreak investigations or control strains. In general, multiple isolates from a single individual had indistinguishable PFGE patterns. Epidemiologically unrelated isolates (outbreak or control strains) had unique patterns; isolates from different individuals within an outbreak had similar, if not identical, patterns. PFGE identifies clonal relationships of isolates which will assist epidemiologic investigations of food-borne-disease outbreaks caused by C. perfringens.


2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 711-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Gleich ◽  
Yosef Morad ◽  
Ramon Echague ◽  
James R. Miller ◽  
John Kornblum ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To describe a pneumonia outbreak caused byStreptococcus pneumoniaeamong residents of a home for the aged and to review contemporary pneumococcal outbreaks.Design:Epidemiological investigation.Methods:Spneumoniaeisolates were serotyped and analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Paired sera were tested for antibodies to pneumococcal surface adhesin A protein (PsaA, a 37-kDa cell-wall protein). Pneumococcal outbreaks reported in the last decade in English were reviewed.Results:Pneumonia developed in 18 of 200 residents. In 11 (61%), a pneumococcal etiology was demonstrated.S pneumoniae,serotype 4, was isolated from the blood cultures of 3 patients; all isolates were indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Pneumococcal involvement was established in 2 by sputum culture and latex agglutination of parapneumonic fluid and in 6 others by a twofold rise in optical density of serum antibody reactive to PsaA. Pneumococcal immunization had not previously been received by any patient; mortality was 22%. No additional cases were noted following administration of pneumococcal vaccine and antibiotic prophylaxis with penicillin or erythromycin. Twenty-six outbreaks of invasive pneumococcal disease since 1990 were reviewed. Twelve occurred in the United States, and serotypes 23F, 14, and 4 accounted for 8 (67%) of 12 outbreaks. All confirmed serotypes in US outbreaks are included in the 23-valent vaccine. More than one half of pneumococcal outbreaks worldwide involved elderly persons in hospitals or long-term-care facilities.Conclusions:A pneumococcal pneumonia outbreak occurred among unvaccinated residents of a residential facility for the aged. Institutionalized elderly persons are at risk of outbreaks of pneumococcal disease and should be vaccinated.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 5153-5158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hin-chung Wong ◽  
Shau-Yan Chen ◽  
Meng-Yi Chen ◽  
James D. Oliver ◽  
Lien-I Hor ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vibrio vulnificus is a marine bacterium that causes human wound infections and septicemia with a high mortality rate. V. vulnificus strains from different clinical and environmental sources or geographic regions have been successfully characterized by ribotyping and several other methods. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is a highly discriminative method, but previous studies suggested that it was not suitable for examining the correlation of V. vulnificus strains from different origins. We employed PFGE to determine its efficacy for characterizing V. vulnificus strains from different geographic regions, characterizing a total of 153 strains from clinical and environmental origins from the United States and Taiwan after SfiI or NotI digestion. V. vulnificus strains showed a high intraspecific diversity by PFGE after SfiI or NotI digestion, and about 12% of the strains could not be typed by the use of either of these enzymes. For PFGE with SfiI digestion, most of the clinical and environmental strains from the United States were grouped into cluster A, while the strains from Taiwan were grouped into other clusters. Clinical strains from the United States showed a higher level of genetic homogeneity than clinical strains from Taiwan, and environmental strains from both regions showed a similarly high level of heterogeneity. PFGE with NotI digestion was useful for studying the correlation of clinical strains from the United States and Taiwan, but it was not suitable for analyzing environmental strains. The results showed that PFGE with SfiI digestion may be used to characterize V. vulnificus strains from distant geographic regions, with NotI being a recommended alternative enzyme.


2008 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 1752-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
TERRANCE M. ARTHUR ◽  
JOSEPH M. BOSILEVAC ◽  
DAYNA M. BRICHTA-HARHAY ◽  
NORASAK KALCHAYANAND ◽  
DAVID A. KING ◽  
...  

Transportation from the feedlot and lairage at the processing plant have been identified as potential sources of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella hide contamination. The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive tracking analysis of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella associated with beef cattle from the feedlot through processing. Cattle (n = 581) were sampled in a feedlot, then transported in multiple lots to three commercial, fed beef processing plants in the United States, where they were sampled again. Samples were collected from the tractor trailers prior to loading cattle and from the lairage environment spaces prior to entry of the study cattle. Pathogen prevalence on cattle hides increased on every lot of cattle between exiting the feedlot and beginning processing. Prior to loading cattle, E. coli O157:H7 was found in 9 (64%) of 14 tractor trailers. E. coli O157:H7 was detected in over 60% of the samples from each lairage environment area, while Salmonella was detected in over 70% of the samples from each lairage environment area. E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella isolates (n 3,645) were analyzed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The results of the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis tracking indicate that the transfer of bacteria onto cattle hides that occurs in the lairage environments of U.S beef processing plants accounts for a larger proportion of the hide and carcass contamination than does the initial bacterial population found on the cattle exiting the feedlot. Finally, the results of this study indicate that hide wash cabinets are effective in removing contamination derived from the lairage environment.


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