Multidrug-Resistant Colonizing Pigs and Farm Workers in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: Potential Interspecies Transmission of Livestock-Associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) ST398.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) has been increasingly isolated from pigs and people in close contact with them, especially livestock-associated methicillin-resistant (LA-MRSA). In this cross-sectional study, we investigated colonization in pigs and farm workers, their resistance profile, and genetic background to estimate interspecies transmission potential within farms from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, between 2014 and 2019. We collected nasal swabs from 230 pigs and 27 workers from 16 and 10 farms, respectively.