Food-initiated outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus analyzed by pheno- and genotyping

An outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) involving 27 patients and 14 health-care workers (HCW) was studied. The outbreak started in the hematology unit of the University Hospital Rotterdam, Dijkzigt, The Netherlands, and spread to the surgical unit. Twenty-one patients (77.8%) developed clinical disease, and five died. Subsequently, MRSA was detected in food and in the throat of one of the HCW who prepared food for hematology patients. Food contaminated by an HCW most likely caused the first case of MRSA septicemia. This route of transmission has not been described before. The outbreak strain was probably transmitted to the surgical unit by a colonized nurse, where it caused an explosive outbreak. Airborne probably transmitted to the surgical unit by a colonized nurse, where it caused an explosive outbreak. Airborne MRSA transmission played an important role in disseminating the organism. The outbreak was controlled within 6 months by intensifying surveillance, temporarily closing the affected wards, treating carriers, and instituting an MRSA ward outside the hospital. Phage typing, insertion sequence probing, protein A gene typing, and DNA fingerprinting by PCR revealed that all outbreak-related isolates were identical. By pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, all but one of the outbreak-related isolates were determined to be identical. Protein A gene typing identified numerous (11) repeat units in all outbreak-related isolates, which supports the suggestion that the outbreak strain may have been more virulent and more transmissible than other MRSA strains. Pheno- and genotyping studies underlined the value of DNA fingerprinting methods for investigation of MRSA epidemiology. Optimal discriminatory power was achieved by combining the results of four genotyping methods.