RESUMO
In 2020 and 2022, nine cases of surgical site infections with a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were diagnosed in horses in an equine referral clinic. Sixteen isolates (horses, n=9; environment, n=3; and staff members, n=4) were analysed retrospectively using Nanopore whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relatedness of two suspected MRSA outbreaks (2020 and 2022). The MRSA isolates belonged to ST398 and ST612. ST398 genomes from 2020 and 2022 formed three phylogenetic clusters. The first ST398 cluster from 2020 consisted of isolates from five horses and one staff member, and we suspected within clinic transmission. The second cluster of ST398 isolates from 2022 originated from two horses and two staff members but showed higher single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) distances. One ST398 isolate from an individual staff member was not related to the other two clusters. The ST612 isolates were isolated in 2022 from two horses and three environmental samples and showed very low SNP distances (<7 SNPs), indicating the transmission of MRSA ST612 in this clinic in 2022. Molecular characterization revealed an abundant set of virulence genes and plasmids in the ST612 isolates in comparison to ST398 isolates. Phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility showed that differences between the two sequence types were consistent with the genetic characteristics. MRSA ST612 has not been reported in Europe before, but it is a dominant clone in African hospitals and has been described in horses and people working with horses in Australia, indicating the importance of surveillance.
Assuntos
Surtos de Doenças , Doenças dos Cavalos , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina , Filogenia , Infecções Estafilocócicas , Sequenciamento Completo do Genoma , Animais , Cavalos , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina/genética , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina/isolamento & purificação , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina/classificação , Infecções Estafilocócicas/epidemiologia , Infecções Estafilocócicas/veterinária , Infecções Estafilocócicas/microbiologia , Infecções Estafilocócicas/transmissão , Surtos de Doenças/veterinária , Doenças dos Cavalos/microbiologia , Doenças dos Cavalos/epidemiologia , Países Baixos/epidemiologia , Estudos Retrospectivos , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Infecção da Ferida Cirúrgica/microbiologia , Infecção da Ferida Cirúrgica/epidemiologia , Infecção da Ferida Cirúrgica/veterinária , Hospitais Veterinários , Fatores de Virulência/genéticaRESUMO
In August 2021, a large-scale mortality event affected harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the Netherlands. Pathology and ancillary testing of 22 animals indicated that the most likely cause of death was Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection. This zoonotic agent poses a health hazard for cetaceans and possibly for persons handling cetacean carcasses.