Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice (2008) 14, 77–82 Antibacterial activity of honey against community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) Yasunori Maeda a,b , Anne Loughrey a , J.A. Philip Earle c , B. Cherie Millar a , Juluri R. Rao d , Angela Kearns e , Ogie McConville f , Colin E. Goldsmith a , Paul J. Rooney a , James S.G Dooley b , Colm J. Lowery b , William J. Snelling b , Ann McMahon g , David McDowell g , John E. Moore a,Ã a Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Department of Bacteriology, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast BT9 7AD, Northern Ireland, UK b School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Molecular Biosciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK c School of Biomedical Sciences, Medical Biology Centre, Queen’s University, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK d Applied Plant Science Division, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, Northern Ireland, UK e Staphylococcal Reference Laboratory, Health Protection Agency (HPA), 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT, UK f Department of Podiatry, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast BT9 7AB, Northern Ireland, UK g School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, UK KEYWORDS Community; MRSA; Honey; Antibiotic resistance; Novel; Cellulitis; Wound; Diabetic foot ulcer Summary Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has now been described globally, as a clinically significant pathogen, particularly associated with skin and soft tissue infections, including abscesses, cellulitis and furunculosis. The recent emergence of CA-MRSA combined with its predominant presentation associated with skin and soft tissue infection, the previous literature indicating honey as an effective treatment of healthcare-associated HA-MRSA-related wound infection, as well as honey’s ease of topical application, make the current study timely and of interest to healthcare practitioners involved with wound management. Although previous studies have examined the antimicro- bial activity of honey against HA-MRSA, such data are limited regarding the activity of honey against this emerging type of MRSA. CA-MRSA (n ¼ 6 isolates), was examined for its susceptibility to natural honey (n ¼ 3 honey produced from bees in ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/ctnm 1744-3881/$ - see front matter & 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2007.11.004 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 28 9026 3554; fax: +44 28 9026 3991. E-mail address: jemoore@niphl.dnet.co.uk (J.E. Moore).