Increase in a Dutch Hospital of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Related to Animal Farming

In The Netherlands, patients exposed to pigs or veal calves were recently shown to be at high risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage. In Amphia Hospital (Breda, The Netherlands), 32% of patients in this risk group were shown to carry MRSA. This resulted in a 3-fold increase in the annual MRSA incidence.