First report of lukM-positive livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC30 from fattening pigs in Northern Ireland

• First report of a lineage of LA-MRSA CC30 encoding lukM identified in pigs.
• LukM is a virulence marker associated to animal-associated clones of S. aureus.
• Pigs were submitted for diagnostic investigations associated with poor growth rate.
• This type of LA-MRSA was detected by passive surveillance.

The increasing number of reports of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) world-wide attests to the public health concern surrounding this pathogen in animal husbandry and in-contact humans. In Europe, LA-MRSA CC398 is predominant and generally regarded as being of low virulence for animals. Herein we report the recovery of a lineage of LA-MRSA, belonging to CC30, from three pigs in Northern Ireland and which encodes a marker of virulence (lukM and lukF-P83) restricted to animal-associated clones of S. aureus.