Abstract
This study was carried out in Alexandria Province for a period of 8 months from April 2021 to November 2021 in order to isolate Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains from dogs as well as human in a linked study population as well as evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the identified MRSA strains. Nasal, ear and skin swabs were collected from 70 dogs either diseased or apparently healthy animals as well as 100 swabs were obtained from diseased and apparently healthy individuals with or without dogs contact. Swabs were streaked on Oxacillin Resistance Screening Agar Base (a selective medium for detection of MRSA). It was found that the overall rate of isolation of MRSA from dogs and humans was 41.4 and 33%, respectively with non-significant association between the rates of isolation. Concerning dogs, the rate of isolation from diseased dogs (50%) was higher than that of apparently healthy dogs (40%) and it was higher in males (46.7%) than in females (32%). Also, the highest rate of isolation was recorded in the age group from 2 to 8 years (44.4%) followed by the age group ≤ 2 years (39.1%) and finally, the age group > 8 years (36.4%). The antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 29 MRSA isolates from dogs clarified that all isolates were resistant to Vancomycin (VA), Oxacillin (OX), Rifampicin (RIF) and Clindamycin (CD), while 68.97% were resistant to Cefoxitin (CX) while all isolates were found to be sensitive to Ciprofloxacin (CIP). On the other side, the rate of isolation of MRSA from apparently healthy individuals (41.9%) was higher than hospitalized individuals (28.9%) and females scored higher rate (37.7%) compared to males (25.6%). Moreover, individuals exceed 60 years old showed the highest rate (44.2%) followed by those of the age group extend from 30 to 60 years (26.9%) and lastly the age group less than 30 years old (22.5%) with significant association between the rates of isolation. Finally, the rate of isolation in contact individuals (44.4%) was higher than non-contact individuals (19.6%) with significant association. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing of MRSA isolates (n=33) obtained from human showed that all isolates were found to be resistant to Vancomycin (VA), Oxacillin (OX), and Rifampicin (RIF), while 90.9% of isolates were resistant to Clindamycin (CD), 45.5% were resistant to Cefoxitin (CX) and 33.3% were resistant to Ciprofloxacin (CIP) with significant association between the rates of isolation. Finally, it was found that the presence of human with animals in the same community and in close contact increases the opportunity of zoonotic transmission of MRSA between dogs, humans, their families and the environment.

Key words: MRSA, dogs, human, Isolation, Antibiogram Pattern,