International dissemination of a high virulence rabbit Staphylococcus aureus clone.
High virulence rabbit Staphylococcus aureus strains cause chronic and spreading problems of mastitis, pododermatitis and subcutaneous abscesses on rabbit flock level, whereas infections with low virulence strains are limited to individual rabbits. In the present report, 13 high virulence rabbit S. aureus strains, selected out of a large collection of strains isolated in five European countries between 1983 and 2004, were genotyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, spa typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and accessory gene regulator (agr) group typing. Two low virulence rabbit S. aureus strains were also included in the study. The results indicate the clonal origin of high virulence rabbit S. aureus strains present in Europe. Furthermore, the results of MLST and spa typing form a basis for international epidemiology of rabbit S. aureus strains, as these DNA sequence-based typing techniques can easily be used for intercentre comparisons.
Vancraeynest
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D
Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Poultry Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, and Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Hôpital de Erasme, Brussels, Belgium. dieter.vancraeynest@ugent.be
Haesebrouck
F
F
Deplano
A
A
Denis
O
O
Godard
C
C
Wildemauwe
C
C
Hermans
K
K
D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000662:veterinary; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010641:Phenotype; D011817:Rabbits; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence
D004269:DNA, Bacterial