Third-Generation Cephalosporin-Resistant Enterobacterales and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Pigs in Rwanda

Sep 30, 2026

This pilot study investigated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) Enterobacterales in conventionally kept domestic pigs and their surrounding environment across four districts in Rwanda. Sampling covered pigs and farm surroundings through 114 swabs (nasal, rectal, manure, dust) from 29 farms, with cultures used to isolate resistant bacteria. Findings reported 3GC-R Enterobacterales detection, including Escherichia coli predominantly carrying blaCTX-M group 1 β-lactamase genes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

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Abstract

Article Third-Generation Cephalosporin-Resistant Enterobacterales and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Pigs in Rwanda Emmanuel Irimaso 1,2, Valens Hagenimana 2, Emmanuel Nzabamwita 2, Michael Blümlinger 1,3, Otto W. Fischer 4, Lukas Schwarz 3, Michael P. Szostak 1, Olga Makarova 5, Adriana Cabal Rosel 6, Werner Ruppitsch 7,8, Elke Müller 9,10,11, Andrea T. Feßler 12,13, Sascha D. Braun 9,10,11, Stefan Schwarz 12,13, Stefan Monecke 9,10,11, Ralf Ehricht 9,10,11,14, Suzana Tkalcic 15, Christophe Ntakirutimana 4, Joachim Spergser 1, Doris Verhovsek 3 and Igor Loncaric 1, * Academic Editor: Sangeeta Rao Received: 15 October 2025 Revised: 25 December 2025 Accepted: 29 December 2025 Published: 31 December 2025 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [e.irimaso@ur.ac.rw](e.irimaso@ur.ac.rw) (E.I.); [michael.bluemlinger@vetmeduni.ac.at](michael.bluemlinger@vetmeduni.ac.at) (M.B.); [michael.szostak@vetmeduni.ac.at](michael.szostak@vetmeduni.ac.at) (M.P.S.); [joachim.spergser@vetmeduni.ac.at](joachim.spergser@vetmeduni.ac.at) (J.S.) 2 The College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (CVAS), University of Rwanda, Nyagatare P.O. Box 57, Rwanda; [vhagenimana1997@gmail.com](vhagenimana1997@gmail.com) (V.H.); [nzabemma123@gmail.com](nzabemma123@gmail.com) (E.N.) 3 Clinical Center for Population Medicine in Fish, Pig and Poultry, Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [lukas.schwarz@vetmeduni.ac.at](lukas.schwarz@vetmeduni.ac.at) (L.S.); [doris.verhovsek@vetmeduni.ac.at](doris.verhovsek@vetmeduni.ac.at) (D.V.) 4 New Vision Veterinary Hospital (NVVH), RN 4 Kigali—Musanze Road, Musanze, Rwanda; owfischer@aol.com (O.W.F.); ntakirutabrian90@gmail.com (C.N.) 5 Centre for Food Science and Veterinary Public Health, Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [olga.makarova@vetmeduni.ac.at](olga.makarova@vetmeduni.ac.at) [6](6 Institute for Surveillance & Infectious Disease Epidemiology)[ Institute for Surveillance & Infectious Disease Epidemiology](6 Institute for Surveillance & Infectious Disease Epidemiology), [Division Public Health](Division Public Health), [Austrian Agency for](Austrian Agency for)[ ](Austrian Agency for)Health and Food Safety, 1200 Vienna, Austria; [adriana.cabal-rosel@ages.at](adriana.cabal-rosel@ages.at) 7 Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; [werner.ruppitsch@i-med.ac.at](werner.ruppitsch@i-med.ac.at) 8 Faculty of Food Technology, Food Safety and Ecology, University of Donja Gorica, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro 9 Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Member of the Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany; [elke.mueller@leibniz-ipht.de](elke.mueller@leibniz-ipht.de) (E.M.); [sascha.braun@leibniz-ipht.de](sascha.braun@leibniz-ipht.de) (S.D.B.); [stefan.monecke@leibniz-ipht.de](stefan.monecke@leibniz-ipht.de) (S.M.); [ralf.ehricht@leibniz-ipht.de](ralf.ehricht@leibniz-ipht.de) (R.E.) 10 InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany 11 Center for Translational Medicine (CETRAMED), Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07747 Jena, Germany 12 Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Straße 7, 14163 Berlin, Germany; [andrea.fessler@fu-berlin.de](andrea.fessler@fu-berlin.de) (A.T.F.); [stefan.schwarz@fu-berlin.de](stefan.schwarz@fu-berlin.de) (S.S.) 13 Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie U

FAQs

What bacteria and resistance types were studied in Rwanda pig farms?

The study examined methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) Enterobacterales in pigs and their environments.

How were samples collected and from how many farms?

Researchers collected 114 swabs (nasal, rectal, manure, dust) from 29 farms across four districts, then processed them to isolate resistant bacteria.

Why do the findings matter for public and animal health?

Antibiotic resistance makes bacteria harder to kill and increases risk when people and animals live closely together, highlighting the need for monitoring and control beyond human medicine.

Sep 30, 2026

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