ABSTRACT. From April 1999 to December 2000, a survey was made on the distribution of Staphylococcus species on the skin of 7 kinds of animals and humans. Staphylococci were isolated from 12 (100%) of 12 pigs, 17 (89.5%) of 19 horses, 30 (100%) of 30 cows, 73 (90.1%) of 81 chickens, 10 (40%) of 25 dogs, 23 (76.7%) of 30 laboratory mice, 20 (52.6%) of 38 pigeons, and 80 (88.9%) of 90 human beings. The predominant staphylococci isolated from a variety of animal species were novobiocin-resistant species, S. xylosus and S. sciuri regardless of the animal host species. The novobiocin-resistant species including S. xylosus and S. sciuri were only occasionally isolated from human skin. The predominant staphylococci found on human skin were novobiocin-sensitive species, S. epidermidis (63.8%), followed by S. warneri (28.8%) and S. hominis (13.8%). The results suggest that the staphylococcal flora inhabiting animal skin are different from those of human skin in regard to the predominant species isolated. In this study, we used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to examine the chromosomal polymorphisms of S. epidermidis isolated most frequently from human skin. Strains of S. epidermidis showed the greatest genomic diversity in their fragment patterns.KEY WORDS: animal and human skin, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Staphylococcus species.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 64(3): 245-250, 2002 Recently, taxonomic studies have shown that the genus Staphylococcus can be divided into at least 36 species and 17 subspecies, consisting of 6 coagulase-positive or coagulase-variable species and 31 coagulase-negative species.Staphylococci are widespread in nature and commonly found living on the skin, in skin glands, and on mucous membranes of humans and other mammals or birds. They are sometimes found in the mouth, blood, mammary glands, and intestinal, genitourinary, and upper respiratory tracts of these hosts.Knowledge of the distribution of the normal staphylococcal flora on the skin is an important factor in understanding the epidemiology of staphylococcal skin diseases in humans and animals. However, ecological studies on staphylococci inhabiting human [1, 12-14, 19, 21] and animal [6,12,16,26] skin have been reported infrequently in the literature. We [26] previously investigated Staphylococcus species on the skin of animals and humans during the period from 1987 to 1990, and found novobiocin-resistant staphylococci to be the predominant species in animals, whereas novobiocinsensitive staphylococci were abundantly present on human skin.In this report, we re-examined the distribution of Staphylococcus species on the skin of healthy animals and humans. We also compared the present results with those of our previous report [26] in terms of the isolation rate of staphylococci from the skin and the dominant species of staphylococci isolated.Among the coagulase-negative staphylococci species, S. epidermidis has been isolated most frequently from the anterior nares [1,9,13] or the skin [13,14] of healthy humans. Many reports have concerned the p...

Staphylococcus aureus coagulase type VII strains have been the strains most frequently isolated from staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks in Tokyo, Japan. We applied pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of chromosomal DNA digested withSmaI to characterize 129 coagulase type VII strains. These were isolated from 129 cases occurring in outbreaks in 35 districts during a 16-year period (1980–1995). The 129 outbreak strains were classified into three types, designated A (n = 115), B (n = 10), and C (n = 4). Types A and C were further divided into 33 (A1 to A33) and 4 (C1 to C4) subtypes, respectively. Strains of the same subtypes were isolated from food poisoning cases in the same districts at time intervals of 1 or 2 to 5 years. PFGE typing appears to be a useful method for subdividing strains of S. aureus coagulase type VII. A combination of coagulase typing and PFGE typing would provide more detailed information than the former method alone in epidemiologic investigations of staphylococcal food poisoning.

ABSTRACT. A total of 90 strains of Staphylococcus intermedius isolated from dogs were examined for antimicrobial susceptibility. There were no significant differences in the distribution patterns of MICs between strains from 1982 to 1985 and those from 1999, and between strains from healthy dogs and those from diseased dogs. All of the strains were susceptible to ABPC, DMPPC, CEX, TDM, ERFX, BFLX, and FF at concentrations of 0.05 to 6.25 µg/ml. The MICs of OTC, KM, EM, AIV-TS, and LCM were distributed in a broad range of 0.1 to >100 µg/ml, indicating the existence of resistant as well as susceptible populations of S. intermedius. Thirty-three strains (36.7%) were resistant to one or more anitmicrobial agents such as OTC (n=32), KM (n=9), EM (n=7), AIV-TS (n=7), and LCM (n=7).

ABSTRACT. Staphylococcus intermedius isolates from diseased and healthy dogs were examined for production of extracellular enzymes and toxins, and phage patterns. There were no significant differences between the two groups of isolates in the production rates of DNase, protease, lipase, gelatinase, hyaluronidase, hemolysins, protein A, and TSST-1, or in phage patterns. But the production rate of enterotoxins in isolates from diseased dogs was significantly higher than that in isolates from healthy dogs. PFGE analysis was performed with isolates from different body sites in individual dogs. In 3 of 6 healthy dogs, identical PFGE patterns were seen in isolates from the nares, external auditory meatus or skin. The remaining 3 dogs yielded isolates of different patterns. In 4 of 6 diseased dogs, identical patterns were seen in isolates from lesions as well as from the other normal sites. Staphylococcus intermedius has been considered a primary pathogen of skin infections in dogs, such as otitis externa [5,7] and pyoderma [1,22,23]. Some strains of S. intermedius produce a variety of extracellular enzymes and toxins and virulence-associated factors [1,13], which are thought to contribute to the pathogenicity of the organism.S. intermedius is also present in the nasal vestibulum, external auditory canal, anal mucosa, and on the skin surface and hair coat of healthy dogs. Knowledge of the characteristics of the normal S. intermedius flora on these sites in healthy dogs is an important factor in understanding the epidemiology of staphylococcal skin infections in dogs. There are several reports on the population sizes and frequency of the organism at these carrier sites in healthy dogs [2,3,9,22]. Nevertheless, comparison of the characteristics of isolates from different sites in individual healthy dogs has not been studied sufficiently [4]. The organism has frequently been cultured from other body sites besides lesion sites in diseased dogs, but information on the clonal relationship between the organisms in the lesions and those in the nose or skin is lacking.The purpose of this study was to compare characteristics of S. intermedius isolates from diseased dogs with those from healthy dogs by using biological properties and phage typing. In addition, the present study was to characterize isolates from different sites in individual healthy and diseased dogs, by means of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).A total of 96 S. intermedius isolates were subjected to biological characterization and phage typing. Forty-seven isolates were from dogs affected with otitis externa (n=8), dermatitis (n=11), pyoderma (n=7), impedigo (n=4), eczema (n=8), and folliculitis (n=9). Forty-nine isolates were from the mouth (n=3), nares (n=17), external auditory meatus (n=18), and skin (n=11) of apparently healthy dogs. Ninety of the 96 isolates had been used in a previous antimicrobial susceptibility study [26].Isolation of S. intermedius from different sites in individual healthy and diseased dogs was performed. Four of 6 healthy dogs e...

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