Heterogeneity and phylogenetic relationships of community-associated methicillin-sensitive/resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in healthy dogs, cats and their owners.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the distribution of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes (se) and the molecular features of community-associated methicillin-sensitive/resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MSSA/MRSA) isolates in the nostrils of healthy pets and their owners.


RESULTS
A total of 114 Staph. aureus isolates were identified from 1563 nasal swab samples, and CA-MRSA accounted for 20·2% (n = 23) of the total identified isolates. CA-MRSA isolates (91·3%, 21/23) harboured higher percentage of se than did CA-MSSA isolates (58·2%, 53/91) (P < 0·01), and the two highest se profiles of CA-MRSA were seb-sek-seq (42·9%, 9/21) and seb-sek-seq-sep (28·6%, 6/21). Of the MSSAs, 42·8% (39/91) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial drug and 8·8% (8/91) were multidrug resistant (MDR). We identified nine staphylocoagulase (SC) types (I-VIII and X) and three multilocus sequence types (ST59-MRSA-IV/V, ST-239-MRSA-V and ST241-MRSA-V). SC VII (23·4%, 22/94), a staphylococcal food poisoning isolate found mainly in Japan, and ST-59-MRSA-IV/V (85%, 17/20), a widespread CA-MRSA clone found mainly in Taiwan, both were the most predominant types. Phylogenetic analysis together with se and molecular characteristics obtained using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that high levels of antimicrobial resistance and the se-carrying clone ST59-MRSA-IV/V-SC VII were all clustered in genogroup 5.


CONCLUSIONS
The CA-MRSA clone of se-carrying-MDR-ST-59-IV/V-SC VII was identified predominantly in this study, and this clone might play a significant role in staphylococcal food poisoning in community settings.


CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, this is the first study focussing on enterotoxin-carrying CA-MRSA/MSSA in pets and their owners, and the results support the future warnings in animal-human bond caused by CA-staphylococci in the commonwealth and the need to take cautions worldwide.
School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
M T
MT
Wan
S Y
SY
Fu
Y P
YP
Lo
T M
TM
Huang
M M
MM
Cheng
C C
CC
Chou
D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002415:Cats; D003030:Coagulase / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D013624:Taiwan
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D003030:Coagulase; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004768:Enterotoxins