Dissemination of Methicillin-Susceptible CC398 Staphylococcus aureus strains in a rural Greek area.

Styliani Sarrou,Efthymia Petinaki,Charalampos Skoulakis,Kleoniki Pantelidi,Antigoni Foka,Charalampos Billinis,Markella Chasioti,Vassilios Lachanas,Georgios Fthenakis,Vassiliki Spyrou,Georgios L Daikos,Georgios Dalekos,Iris Spiliopoulou,Apostolos Liakopoulos,Angeliki Roussaki-Schulze,Konstantinos Makaritsis

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122761

Abstract

A large collection of Staphylococcus aureus including a. 745 clinically significant isolates that were consecutively recovered from human infections during 2012–2013, b. 19 methicillin-susceptible (MSSA), randomly selected between 2006–2011 from our Staphylococcal Collection, c. 16 human colonizing isolates, and d. 10 strains from colonized animals was investigated for the presence and the molecular characteristics of CC398. The study was conducted in Thessaly, a rural region in Greece. The differentiation of livestock-associated clade from the human clade was based on canSNPs combined with the presence of the φ3 bacteriophage and the tetM, scn, sak, and chp genes. Among the 745 isolates, two MRSA (0.8% of total MRSA) and thirteen MSSA (2.65% of total MSSA) were found to belong to CC398, while, between MSSA of our Staphylococcal Collection, one CC398, isolated in 2010, was detected. One human individual, without prior contact with animals, was found to be colonized by a MSSA CC398. No CC398 was identified among the 10 S. aureus isolated from animals. Based on the molecular markers, the 17 CC398 strains were equally placed in the livestock-associated and in the human clades. This is the first report for the dissemination of S. aureus CC398 among humans in Greece.

Highlights

IntroductionCC398 S. aureus, Greece, Livestock dogs, black rats or food of animal origin [1]
Since 2005, the livestock-associated clonal complex (CC) 398 Staphylococcus aureus have been detected mainly in pigs or other food-producing animals, as well in horses, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0122761 April 2, 2015CC398 S. aureus, Greece, Livestock dogs, black rats or food of animal origin [1]
In 2009, a new sub-population of ST398 methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), was observed in community households in northern Manhattan, while, soon thereafter, this clone was reported as the causal agent of necrotizing pneumonia and invasive bloodstream infections in individuals not in direct animal contact in European countries or China [8,9,10,11,12,13]

Summary

Introduction

CC398 S. aureus, Greece, Livestock dogs, black rats or food of animal origin [1] These strains, that can cause mainly superficial skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), affect primarily individuals in direct contact with animals, e.g., farm personnel, veterinarians, veterinary students or slaughterhouse workers [1,2,3,4,5]. The majority of these strains are methicillin-resistant [6,7]. Stegger et al showed that these two phylogenetic clades, the livestock-associated and the human one, can be rapidly differentiate based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (canSNP_748, canSNP_1002 and canSNP_3737) combined with the presence of scn and tetM genes [16]

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