Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is widespread in farmed mink (Neovison vison)

In clinical samples, LA-MRSA was found in 34% of submissions and was most prevalent in samples from paws (33%) and pharynx (17%), followed by nasal and intestinal samples (each 13%), whereas it was never detected in perineal samples. LA-MRSA was found in healthy animals on 40% of the investigated farms, including paw samples (29%) and pharyngeal samples (16%). Twenty out of the 108 feed samples from feed producers were positive for LA-MRSA. The dominant spa-types were t034 and t011 associated to CC398, corresponding to the dominant spa-types detected in the Danish pig production, from which slaughter offal is used for mink feed. The spa-types, the high prevalence of LA-MRSA on paws and in pharynx, and its detection in feed samples, suggest feed as a possible source of LA-MRSA in mink.