Genomic insights into the emergence and spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in veterinary clinics

Papić, Bojan (author), Golob, Majda (author), Zdovc, Irena (author), Kušar, Darja (author), Avberšek, Jana (author)

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a common cause of skin and soft tissue infections in dogs but can also cause infections in cats and humans. The frequency of methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) strains is increasing worldwide. Here, we obtained 43 MRSP isolates from dogs (n = 41), one cat (n = 1) and the small animal clinic environment (n = 1) in Slovenia from the period 2008–2018, which underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Five sequence types (STs) were identified, with ST71 (32/43) and ST551 (8/43) being the predominant. In Slovenia, ST551 was first detected in 2016, whereas a decrease in the frequency of ST71 was observed after 2015. All isolates were multidrug-resistant and most antimicrobial-resistant phenotypes could be linked to acquisition of the corresponding resistance genes or gene mutations. Core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) revealed several potential MRSP transmission routes: (i) between two veterinary clinics by a single MRSP-positive dog, (ii) between the environment of a veterinary clinic and a dog, and (iii) between a canine and a feline patient through the contaminated environment of a veterinary clinic. Of the six dogs that were additionally sampled from 14 days to five months after the initial sampling, each harbored the same MRSP strain, suggesting a limited within-host diversity of MRSP in symptomatic dogs. The present results highlight the importance of MRSP-positive dogs in the spread of veterinary care-associated MRSP infections and call for the implementation of strict control measures to reduce MRSP contamination in veterinary clinic environments originating from animal-contact surfaces.

• Language: English
• Keywords: antimicrobial susceptibility testing, epidemiology, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP), small animal clinic, whole-genome sequencing (WGS)
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: VF - Veterinary Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 7 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 258, art. 109119
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-127443
• UDC: 636.09:579
• ISSN on article: 1873-2542
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2021.109119
• COBISS.SI-ID: 64516867
• Publication date in RUL: 07.06.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Veterinary microbiology
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1873-2542
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23130885

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J4-8224
• Name: Ugotavljanje in karakterizacija povzročiteljev kužnih bolezni z metodo naslednje generacije sekvenciranja

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0092
• Name: Zdravje živali, okolje in varna hrana