Vet World   Vol.17   August-2024  Article - 12 

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevalence in food-producing animals and food products in Saudi Arabia: A review

In Saudi Arabia, the occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in food and livestock represents a major public health hazard. The emergence of livestock-associated MRSA has heightened the risk of human infection with comparable virulence traits. The lack of information about MRSA transmission in our region hinders accurate risk assessment, despite its detection in food animals and retail foods. Adopting a One Health approach is essential for effectively combating MRSA in Saudi Arabia. This method unites actions in the human, animal, and environmental spheres. To combat MRSA contamination, surveillance measures need strengthening; interdisciplinary collaboration among healthcare professionals, veterinarians, and environmental scientists is crucial, and targeted interventions must be implemented in local food chains and animal populations. Through a holistic strategy, public health and sustainable food production in the region are protected. This review aims to improve public health interventions by increasing understanding of MRSA prevalence and related risks in local food chains and animal populations. 

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, food-producing animals, livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Saudi Arabia.

How to cite this article: Alkuraythi DM, Alkhulaifi MM (2024) Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevalence in food-producing animals and food products in Saudi Arabia: A review, Veterinary World, 17(8): 1753-1764.

Received: 2024-02-10    Accepted: 2024-07-15    Published online: 2024-08-13

Corresponding author: Dalal M. Alkuraythi    E-mail: dalkrithi@uj.edu.sa

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.1753-1764

Copyright: Alkuraythi, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.