title: Staphylococcus aureus complex from animals and humans in three remote African regions.
abstract: Staphylococcus schweitzeri has been recently considered to be a highly divergent Staphylococcus aureus clade and usually colonises nonhuman primates and bats in sub-Saharan Africa. Its transmissibility to humans remains unclear. We therefore investigated the transmission of S. aureus and S. schweitzeri among humans, domestic animals, and wildlife in three remote African regions. A cross-sectional study on nasal and pharyngeal colonisation in humans (n = 1288) and animals (n = 698) was performed in Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). Isolates were subjected to spa typing and multilocus sequence typing. Antimicrobial susceptibility and selected virulence factors were tested. S. schweitzeri was found in monkeys from all study sites but no transmission to humans was evident, despite frequent contact of humans with wildlife. In contrast, human-associated S. aureus sequence types (ST1, ST6, ST15) were detected in domestic animals and nonhuman primates, pointing toward a human-to-monkey transmission in the wild. The proportion of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) among all S. aureus was 0% (Gabon), 1.7% (DR Congo), and 5.3% (Côte d'Ivoire). The majority of MRSA isolates belonged to the African clone ST88. In conclusion, we did not find any evidence for a transmission of S. schweitzeri from animals to humans. However, such a transmission might remain possible due to the close phylogenetic relation of humans and nonhuman primates. The ST88-MRSA clone was widespread in Côte d'Ivoire but not in Gabon and DR Congo.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany; Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon. Electronic address: frieder.schaumburg@ukmuenster.de.
authors.forename: Frieder
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schaumburg
authors.affiliation: Research Group Emerging Zoonoses, Robert-Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Maude
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory for Animal Diseases, Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire; Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouaké, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bouaké, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Etile
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anoh
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory for Animal Diseases, Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Arsene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mossoun
authors.affiliation: ViroscienceLab, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lidewij
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wiersma
authors.affiliation: Research Group Emerging Zoonoses, Robert-Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Grit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Tübingen, Germany; Centre Médico-Social, Ambassade de France, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flammen
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Abraham S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Alabi
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche Bio-Médicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Muyembe-Tamfum
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Tübingen, Germany; Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Internal Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Grobusch
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche Bio-Médicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: Stomy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karhemere
authors.affiliation: Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouaké, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bouaké, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akoua-Koffi
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory for Animal Diseases, Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Couacy-Hymann
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institut für Tropenmedizin, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kremsner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mellmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Research Group Emerging Zoonoses, Robert-Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Fabian H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002685:Chiroptera; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D058889:Molecular Typing; D011323:Primates; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Africa; MRSA; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus schweitzeri; animal; transmission