Abstract
This study was carried out to isolate Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains from cats as well as human. Nasal, ear and skin swabs were collected from 50 cats either diseased or apparently healthy animals as well as 50 swabs were obtained from diseased and apparently healthy individuals with or without cats’ 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 cats was 20% with significant association between the rates of isolation from diseased cats (21.4%) and apparently healthy cats (18.4%). In addition, the highest rate of isolation was recorded in the age group from 1 to 2 years (29.4%) followed by the age group > 2 years (26.7%) and finally, the age group ≤ 1 year (5.6%) with non-significant association between the rates of isolation. On the other side, the overall rate of isolation of MRSA from human was 32% with significant association between the rates of isolation from diseased individuals (28.6%) and apparently healthy individuals (40%). Moreover, individuals exceed 60 years old showed the highest rate (40.9%) followed by those of the age group extend from 30 to 60 years (30.8%) and lastly the age group less than 30 years old (20%) with significant association between the rates of isolation. Molecular characterization of MRSA strains recovered (n=26) from cats and human for detection of nuc and mecA genes by PCR was performed. It was recorded that nuc gene was detected in 65.4% of isolates while mecA gene was detected in 80.8% of the recovered isolates. 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 cats, humans, and the environment.

Key words: MRSA, Cats, Human, Isolation, Molecular Characterization,