First report of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus harboring mecC gene in milk samples from cows with mastitis in southeastern Brazil.

MRSA infection and colonization have been reported in both companion and food-chain animals, highlighting MRSA as an important veterinary and zoonotic pathogen. Another mec allele, the mecC gene, also confers beta-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and shows 69% nucleotide identity to mecA. The main aim of this study was to investigate the genotypic and clonal profile of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) from cows with mastitis in dairy herds. Thirty-five samples suggestive of bovine subclinical mastitis were evaluated, and S. aureus were detected in all of them using both phenotypic and molecular approaches. According to the multilocus sequence typing (MLST), the S. aureus isolates were assigned in five different STs, 21 (60%) showed ST 742, 6 (17%) ST97, 4 (11%) ST1, 2 (6%) ST30, and 2 (6%) ST126. The presence of mecA was not observed in any of these isolates whereas mecC was detected in nine of them (9/35; 26%). The Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes were detected in a total of 4 isolates. Among the 35 isolates analyzed, 26 showed resistance to penicillin. Changes in the S. aureus epidemiology due to the detection of MRSA in milk samples from cows presenting with bovine subclinical mastitis may have consequences for public health in Brazil, challenging the empirical therapy and animal management, with potential medical and social outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing mecC MRSA in Southeastern Brazil.

Detection of a mecC-positive Staphylococcus saprophyticus from bovine mastitis in Argentina.

INTRODUCTION: Bovine mastitis causes important economic losses in the dairy industry. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are a group of bacteria commonly isolated from bovine mastitis and can display resistance to a wide range of antimicrobial agents. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine staphylococcal resistance towards ß-lactam, macrolide and lincosamide antimicrobials in quarters previously treated with third-generation cephalosporin and after lincosamide intramammary therapy. METHODS: Sick quarters of eighteen cows from Villaguay, Entre Ríos (Argentina) with clinical mastitis were studied. All staphylococcal isolates were tested by disk diffusion for their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Cefoxitin resistance was investigated by PCR and sequencing for both the mecA and mecC genes. RESULTS: Resistances to penicillin, oxacillin and cefoxitin were observed, whereas no resistance to macrolide and lincosamide was detected. A cefoxitin-resistant Staphylococcus saprophyticus was found to be mecA-negative but mecC-positive. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports for the first time the mecC gene from a CNS in bovine mastitis in South America. Because CNS may act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes, they can be seen as a potential public health threat with respect to antimicrobial resistance and the development of multiple resistance. Also, the emergence of methicillin-resistant phenotypes will limit therapeutic options.