Scientists at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi, identified the new clone while assessing the prevalence of MRSA in seafood and the environment.
A new clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is exclusive to Kochi, Kerala has been identified.
The new clone, christened ‘t15669 MRSA’, is unique to seafood and the aquatic environment of Kerala.
MRSA can lead to diseases ranging from milder form of skin infections, boils, furunculosis to life-threatening septicemia and bacteraemia from post-surgical contamination. The situation turns worse given their resistance to wide range of drugs, warned the researchers.
However, as S. aureus causes disease by producing enterotoxin in the food, there is no immediate threat in consumption of seafood contaminated with MRSA.