Single Blinded Study on the Feasibility of Decontaminating LA-MRSA in Pig Compartments under Routine Conditions

In countries with intensive pig husbandry in stables, the prevalence of livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on such farms has remained high in the last few years or has also further increased. Simple measures to reduce the LA-MRSA among pigs have not yet been successfully implemented. Earlier publications showed a decontamination of LA-MRSA was only possible with great effort. The aim of this study is to determine the suitability of routine cleaning and disinfection (C&D) for adequate LA-MRSA decontamination. For this purpose, at least 115 locations in a piglet-rearing compartment were examined before and after cleaning and disinfection. The sample locations were stratified according to accessibility for pigs and the difficulty of cleaning. The cleaning work was carried out routinely by farm employees, who were not informed about the sampling (single blinded). While before cleaning and disinfection, 85% of the samples from the surfaces were LA-MRSA positive, while only 2% were positive thereafter. All LA-MRSA-positive samples after cleaning and disinfection were outside the animal area. Air samples also showed no LA-MRSA after cleaning and disinfection. Conclusion: In well-managed livestock farms, decontamination of the LA-MRSA barn is quite possible; after C&D no LA-MRSA was detectable at animal height.