MRSA USA300 Clone and VREF — A U.S.–Colombian Connection?

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To the Editor: In the United States, the dissemination of a major clone of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), designated USA300, and outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) have been described.1,2 Community-associated MRSA infections emerged in Colombia in 2005,3 and a total of 15 community-associated MRSA infections were documented in four cities in 2006 and 2007. All the patients presented with severe skin and soft-tissue infections, which were often complicated by necrotizing fasciitis, bacteremia, paraspinal abscess, arthritis, or meningitis, with a mortality rate of 20%. The first known Colombian VREF isolate was recovered in a hospital in Bogotá in . . .