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Genotypic relatedness and antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus schleiferi in clinical samples from dogs in different geographic regions of the United States.

BACKGROUND
Staphylococcus schleiferi is a known pathogen that can cause canine skin and ear infections. The aim of this study was to determine the molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical veterinary isolates from different geographic regions in the United States.


HYPOTHESIS
It was hypothesized that S. schleiferi would maintain genotypic homogeneity across the different geographic regions and that meticillin-resistant (MR) isolates of S. schleiferi would predominate.


METHODS
Isolates were identified as S. schleiferi by a commercial microbiology identification system and confirmed by nuc gene PCR. Antibiotic susceptibility data were collected and PBP2a latex agglutination testing was performed on MR isolates. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed and clonal clusters were identified with a Dice coefficient similarity of >80%.


RESULTS
There were 116 isolates from the Mid-Atlantic region and 101 from across the United States. Of these 217 isolates, 209 (96%) were obtained from cutaneous sites. Of the Mid-Atlantic isolates, 62% (72 of 116) were MR and 16% (18 of 116) were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Of the isolates from the other geographic regions, 73% (74 of 101) were MR and 24% (24 of 101) were MDR. All MR isolates were positive by PBP2a latex agglutination. PFGE identified 155 individual pulsed-field profiles and three major pulsed-field types (PFT) that contained 61% (133 of 217) of the isolates. These pulsed-field types were geographically heterogeneous.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the dissemination of successful MR pulsed-field types of S. schleiferi across the United States.