Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most clinically important zoonotic pathogens, but an understanding of the prevalence, biofilm formulation ability, virulence, and antimicrobial resistance genes of S. aureus from veterinary hospitals is lacking. By characterizing S. aureus in different origins of veterinary hospitals in Guangzhou, China, in 2019, we identified with the presence of S. aureus in pets (17.1%), veterinarians (31.7%), airborne dust (19.1%), environmental surfaces (4.3%), and medical device surfaces (10.8%). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and Staphylococcus protein A (spa) typing analyses demonstrated methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) ST398-t571, MSSA ST188-t189, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) ST59-t437 were the most prevalent lineage. S. aureus with similar pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types distributed widely in different kinds of samples. The crystal violet straining assays revealed 100% (3/3) of MRSA ST59 and 81.8% (9/11) of MSSA ST188 showed strong biofilm formulation ability, whereas other STs (ST1, ST5, ST7, ST15, ST88, ST398, ST3154 and ST5353) showed weak biofilm production ability. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed the most prevalent leucocidin, staphylococcal enterotoxins, ica operon, and adhesion genes were lukD-lukE (49.0%), sec-sel (15.7%), icaA-icaB-icaC-icaR (100.0%), and fnbB-cidA-fib-ebps-eno (100.0%), respectively. Our study showed that the isolates with strong biofilm production ability had a higher prevalence in clfA, clfB, fnbA and sdrC genes compared to the isolates with weak biofilm production ability. Furthermore, 2 ST1-MRSA isolates with tst gene and 1 ST88-MSSA isolate with lukS/F-PV gene were detected. In conclusion, the clonal dissemination of S. aureus of different origins in veterinary hospitals may have occurred; the biofilm production capacity of S. aureus is strongly correlated with ST types; some adhesion genes such as clfA, clfB, fnbA, and sdrC may pose an influence on biofilm production ability and the emergence of lukS/F-PV and tst genes in S. aureus from veterinary hospitals should raise our vigilance.
Highlights
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most clinically important zoonotic pathogens, causing skin and soft tissue infections, bloodstream infections, and even life-threatening diseases with mortality rates higher than those for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis combined [1,2,3]
Our study showed that icaA, icaB, icaC, and icaR genes were detected in all S. aureus isolates, but the prevalence of icaD gene was different between strong biofilm production ability and weak biofilm production ability strains
Our results revealed that S. aureus was present in veterinarians and pets and widely distributed in the environment of veterinary hospitals
Summary
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most clinically important zoonotic pathogens, causing skin and soft tissue infections, bloodstream infections, and even life-threatening diseases with mortality rates higher than those for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis combined [1,2,3]. The human nasal vestibule is the main reservoir of S. aureus, persistently and intermittently colonizing about 30% and 60% of the human noses, respectively [4]. S. aureus strains have been found to survive for long periods on the human skin and the primary mode of transmission of. S. aureus is by direct contact, usually skin-to-skin contact with a colonized or infected individual [1,3]. Studies have indicated that the transmission of S. aureus can occur from human to animal and vice versa [5,6]. Numerous cases have been reported that humans may be infected with pet-associated S. aureus [7,8], and pets such as dogs and cats can serve as the reservoir of S. aureus [9,10]
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