Dissemination of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and bacteriophage MS2 from floors in long-term care facility resident rooms.

We demonstrated that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination on floors in the rooms of colonized long-term care facility residents was frequently transferred by shoes to adjacent patient rooms. A benign virus inoculated onto the floor was transferred to floors and high-touch surfaces in adjacent rooms and the nursing station. These results suggest that shoes may serve as a vector for dissemination of health care-associated pathogens from rooms of MRSA-colonized patients.