Transmission of MDR MRSA between primates, their environment and personnel at a United States primate centre

Abstract

Objectives: MDR MRSA isolates cultured from primates, their facility and primate personnel from the Washington National Primate Research Center were characterized to determine whether they were epidemiologically related to each other and if they represented common local human-associated MRSA strains.Methods: Human and primate nasal and composite environmental samples were collected, enriched and selected on medium supplemented with oxacillin and polymyxin B. Isolates were biochemically verified as Staphylococcus aureus and screened for the mecA gene. Selected isolates were characterized using SCCmec typing, MLST and WGS.Results: Nasal cultures were performed on 596 primates and 105 (17.6%) were MRSA positive. Two of 79 (2.5%) personnel and two of 56 (3.6%) composite primate environmental facility samples were MRSA positive. Three MRSA isolates from primates, one MRSA from personnel, two environmental MRSA and one primate MSSA were ST188 and were the same strain type by conventional typing methods. ST188 isolates were related to a 2007 ST188 human isolate from Hong Kong. Both MRSA isolates from out-of-state primates had a novel MLST type, ST3268, and an unrelated group. All isolates carried ≥1 other antibiotic resistance gene(s), including tet(38), the only tet gene identified.Conclusions: ST188 is very rare in North America and has almost exclusively been identified in people from Pan-Asia, while ST3268 is a newly reported MRSA type. The data suggest that the primate MDR MRSA was unlikely to come from primate centre employees. Captive primates are likely to be an unappreciated source of MRSA.

Prevalence, risk factors, phenotypic and molecular characteristics for Staphylococcus aureus carriage in community-based drug users in Guangzhou, China

“…We found high proportions of ST5 and ST59 in this study and these STs were also globally reported in communities [27]. We also found hospital-(ST188) [28,29] and livestock-(ST398) [30,31] associated STs in this study. The results of CCs and STs for S. aureus isolates could demonstrate the multiple transmissions among human beings, livestock and environment, which are similar to previous studies [6,24].…”

Prevalence, risk factors, phenotypic and molecular characteristics for Staphylococcus aureus carriage in community-based drug users in Guangzhou, China

“…We found high proportions of ST5 and ST59 in this study and these STs were also globally reported in communities [26]. We also found hospital-(ST188) [27,28] and livestock-(ST398) [29,30] associated STs in this study. Additionally, according to the results of SCCmec types we could also know the source of MRSA isolates were from both communities and healthcare settings, which is similar to the observed studies [4,9].…”

ST3268: a geographically widespread primate MRSA clone

“…1 The first, ST188-MRSA-IV, had 23 previously been reported in humans and primates, whereas the second, ST3268-24 MRSA-V, had initially been discovered in quarantined primates originating outside 25…”

“…1 We had also identified ST3268-MRSA-V and its single-locus variant 27 (SLV) ST2817-MRSA-V among long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) used in 28 experimental surgery in 2014, and describe our experience here, comparing our 29 isolates to the two U.S. ST3268 isolates via genomic analysis. 1 …”