University of Iowa epidemiologist Tara Smith and her research team detected methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, in three out of 114 wild animals: a migratory shorebird called lesser yellowlegs and two Eastern cottontail rabbits. The researchers found that the rabbits carried community-associated MRSA strains while the shorebird had a hospital-associated strain. Smith said the infections could have been acquired from hospital waste or other "spillover events" from humans, but it remains unclear whether the wild animals could transmit the superbugs to humans or other animals.