Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus in Goose Feces from State Parks in Northeast Ohio

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus can colonize a range of species. Although numerous studies have isolated pathogenic bacteria from wild birds, very little is known regarding S. aureus and their potential to spread methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains. The objective of this study was to determine the presence and molecular characteristics of S. aureus in geese fecal samples collected from ten state parks across Northeast Ohio (NEO). A total of 182 fecal samples from Canada geese (Branta canadensis) were collected in April 2015. Isolates were characterized using multi-locus sequence (MLST) and spa typing, as well as PCR to detect the presence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), mecA, and scn genes. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done via Vitek-2 system. The overall contamination by S. aureus in fecal samples was 7.1% (13/182); 7/182 (3.8%) were MRSA and 6/182 (3.3%) were methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). One isolate was positive for PVL. A total of eight different spa types were observed. MLST included ST5, ST8, ST291, ST298, and ST2111. One (7.7%) MSSA isolate was multi-drug resistant. The S. aureus contamination in NEO state parks ranged from 0% (park 1, 4, 8, 9) to 35% (7/20) (park 5). Parks 2, 3, 6, and 7 had 5% (1/20) positive. The results of this study indicate that the feces of geese collected at various state parks in NEO may harbor S. aureus.

Prevalence and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus on Public Recreational Beaches in Northeast Ohio

“…MRSA has also been implicated with marine animals such as seals (O'Mahony et al, ) and bottlenose dolphins (Faires et al, ; Schaefer et al, ). We have found S. aureus and MRSA contamination in freshly voided geese fecal samples collected from the vicinity of sampling sites of this study (Thapaliya et al, ); however, animal samples were not collected concurrently with beach samples. While molecular epidemiology of the goose fecal samples matched in some cases (ST5 and/or ST8 were isolated in both animals and beach samples at Sites 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10), water and sand samples were far more diverse.…”

“…While molecular epidemiology of the goose fecal samples matched in some cases (ST5 and/or ST8 were isolated in both animals and beach samples at Sites 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10), water and sand samples were far more diverse. Further, while ST398 was isolated from goose feces at Site 6, this type was not found in beach water or sand at that site, while it was found at the beach in Site 7 but not in goose feces at that location (Thapaliya et al, ). As such, the wild animals and migratory birds dwelling and interacting in the vicinity of lakes and state parks may have played potential role in S. aureus and MRSA contamination of beach sand and water in addition to S. aureus /MRSA shedding by beachgoers, but further research is needed to test this connection.…”

Staphylococcus aureus Epidemiology in Wildlife: A Systematic Review

“…ST425 isolates are known to be zoonotic, and have been described as a human colonizer as well, and its ability to cross species barriers may facilitate transmission of resistance genes, including mecC [11]. Other key molecular types present in a wide variety of species included ST398 in Norway rats [30][31][32][33][34], brown hare [40], boar [53,54,56], red deer [53,54], Iberian ibex [54], vulture [75], white stork [76], Eurasian griffon vulture [54], and Canada goose [79] and ST130/CC130, found in a rabbit [35], hedgehog [37,38,40], wood mouse [41], brown rat [40], yellow-necked mouse [42], house mouse [42], brown hare [37,40], mara [48,49], red fox [40], boar [35,55], red deer [35,59], Iberian ibex [53], fallow deer [40], and blue-winged teal [44]. The latter includes a large number of small animals and rodents, suggesting these may be an important reservoir in addition to livestock [91], and ST398 is a known colonizer of humans, particularly those with livestock contact [84].…”

Generalizability and comparability of prevalence estimates in the wild bird literature: methodological and epidemiological considerations

“…Furthermore, a recent study highlights the importance of these different MDR classification metrics; changes in the metric alone produced changes in prevalence values (MacKinnon et al ., 2018). In the relevant wild bird literature, some studies utilized resistance to individual drugs as a metric (Guenther et al ., 2010; Shobrak and Abo-Amer, 2014; Carroll et al , 2015; Pinto et al ., 2015; Vidal et al ., 2017), while others utilized drug classes (Jurado-Tarifa et al ., 2016; Moré et al ., 2017; Thapaliya et al ., 2017). Another important feature of MDR definitions concerns the minimum number of individual drugs, drug classes, or drug categories required for an isolate to be considered multi-drug resistant.…”