**3.6 Products of animal origin**

Besides the importance of living animals as a source of MRSA, animal origin products also play a role in disseminating these strains to the humans. Lozano et al. (2009) detected MRSA ST398 in food samples in Spain. A total of 318 samples of raw food were evaluated from food-producing animals (148 from chicken, 55 from pork, 46 from veal, 19 from lamb, 10 from turkey, 8 from rabbit and 12 minced-meat samples) and of wild animals (8 *game birds*, 4 wild boar, 4 deer and 4 hare samples). MRSA was detected in 5 of 318 (1.6%) food samples (pork, chicken, rabbit, veal and wild boar). The two strains from pork and veal corresponded to ST398-SCC*mec*V clone (*spa* types t011 and t1197, respectively), the two strains from chicken and rabbit were typed as ST125-SCC*mec*IVa-t067, and the strain from one wild boar was ST217-SCC*mec*IVa-t032, with all the MRSA being PVL negative. The characteristics of these strains suggest that they can be of both animal and human origin, and although the presence of MRSA in food is low, it must be monitored, because it can contribute to its dissemination.

Recently, Weese et al. (2011) evaluated the presence of MRSA in feedlot cattle, close to the time of slaughter, in nasal and rectal fecal samples. It was not possible to detect MRSA in these animals, in contrast to recent studies on retail beef (Weese et al., 2010), demonstrating the need for more studies of livestock, as well as farms, processing and retail environments to elucidate the epidemiology of contamination with MRSA in meat.
