Prevalence and Characteristics of Multidrug-Resistant Livestock-Associated Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (LA-MRSA) CC398 Isolated from Quails (<i>Coturnix Coturnix Japonica</i>) Slaughtered for Human Consumption
Vanessa Silva,
Madalena Vieira-Pinto,
Cândido Saraiva,
Vera Manageiro,
Lígia Reis,
Eugénia Ferreira,
Manuela Caniça,
José L. Capelo,
Gilberto Igrejas,
Patrícia Poeta
Affiliations
Vanessa Silva
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Madalena Vieira-Pinto
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Cândido Saraiva
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Vera Manageiro
National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistances and Healthcare Associated Infections (NRL-AMR/HAI), Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal
Lígia Reis
National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistances and Healthcare Associated Infections (NRL-AMR/HAI), Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal
Eugénia Ferreira
National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistances and Healthcare Associated Infections (NRL-AMR/HAI), Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal
Manuela Caniça
National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistances and Healthcare Associated Infections (NRL-AMR/HAI), Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal
José L. Capelo
BIOSCOPE Group, LAQV@REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2825-466 Almada, Portugal
Gilberto Igrejas
Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Functional Genomics and Proteomics’ Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Patrícia Poeta
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) is a zoonotic pathogen that has been reported in several animals, and it is often associated with clonal complex (CC) 398. We aimed to isolate MRSA from quails and to characterize their antimicrobial resistance and genetic lineages. One hundred swab samples were recovered from quails at the slaughterhouse. The swabs were inoculated onto CHROMagar™ MRSA agar plates for MRSA isolation. The presence of antimicrobial-resistant genes and virulence factors was investigated by PCR. All strains were typed by MLST, SCCmec-, spa- and agr-typing. From the 100 samples, 29 MRSA were isolated. All strains were resistant to penicillin, cefoxitin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and clindamycin and carried the blaZ, mecA, ermB and ermC genes. All strains, except one, showed resistance to tetracycline and harbored the tetM, tetK and tetL genes in different combinations. Twenty strains belonged to ST398 and SCCmec type V, and nine strains belonged to the new ST6831. Twenty-eight out of twenty-nine strains were ascribed to t011 and one to t108. As far as we know, this is the first report of MRSA from quails slaughtered for human consumption. Most strains belonged to ST398-t011, which is the most common LA-MRSA clone found in livestock in Europe.
