An American MRSA in Colombia

For the first time, a predominant form of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the United States, USA300, has emerged as a major clone of MRSA in another country. In the latest issue of the NEJM, investigators from Colombia and Texas report their identification of USA300 isolates in a series of Colombian MRSA outbreaks, beginning in 2005. The researchers also discovered, in more than 2 dozen Colombian cases, a clone of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) that had been seen only in Houston.

The NEJM correspondence suggests that, although USA300 has been discovered as a predominant form of MRSA only in Colombia, the clone (not yet genetically identified) may well be a major cause of outbreaks in other Latin American countries.

Photo of spontaneously draining, cutaneous MRSA abscess on hip of prison inmate from the CDC. (Clarification: The photo, not the prison inmate, is from the CDC...at least as far as I know.)