ABSTRACT
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a leading aetiologic agent of pyoderma and other body tissue infections in dogs and cats. In recent years, an increased prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) has been reported. Isolation of MRSP in serious infections poses a major therapeutic challenge as strains are often resistant to all forms of systemic antibiotic used to treat S. pseudintermedius -related infections. This study investigates the occurrence of MRSP from a total of 7183 clinical samples submitted to the authors' laboratories over a 15-month period. Identification was based on standard microbiological identification methods, and by S. pseudintermedius-specific nuc polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Methicillin resistance was confirmed by PBP2a latex agglutination and mecA PCR. Susceptibility against non-beta-lactam antibiotics was carried out using a disc-diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. In addition, susceptibility to pradofloxacin--a new veterinary fluoroquinolone--was also investigated. SCCmec types were determined by multiplex PCR. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius was isolated from 391 (5%) samples and 20 were confirmed as MRSP from cases of pyoderma, otitis, wound infections, urinary tract infection and mastitis in dogs only. All 20 isolates were resistant to clindamycin and sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim. Nineteen were resistant to chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, marbofloxacin and pradofloxacin; additionally, seven isolates were resistant to tetracycline. Fifteen isolates carried SCCmec type II-III, four isolates had type V and one harboured type IV. To date, only a few scientific papers on clinical MRSP strains isolated from the UK have been published, thus the results from this study would provide additional baseline data for further investigations.
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Dog Diseases/microbiology , Methicillin Resistance , Staphylococcal Infections/veterinary , Staphylococcus/drug effects , Staphylococcus/isolation & purification , Animals , Bacterial Typing Techniques , Dogs , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Staphylococcal Infections/urine , Staphylococcus/classification , United KingdomABSTRACT
AIM: The main aim of the present study was to use three PCR-based techniques for the analysis of genetic variability among Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated from the Philippines. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seventeen strains of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from shrimps (Penaeus monodon) and from the environments where these shrimps are being cultivated were analysed by random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR (RAPD-PCR), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR) and repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR). The results of this work have demonstrated genetic variability within the V. parahaemolyticus strains that were isolated from the Philippines. In addition, RAPD, ERIC and REP-PCR are suitable rapid typing methods for V. parahaemolyticus. All three methods have good discriminative ability and can be used as a rapid means of comparing V. parahaemolyticus strains for epidemiological investigation. Based on the results of this study, we could say that REP-PCR is inferior to RAPD and ERIC-PCR owing to the fact that it is less reproducible. Moreover, the REP-PCR analysis yielded a relatively small number of products. This may suggests that the REP sequences may not be widely distributed in the V. parahaemolyticus genome. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variability within V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated in the Philippines has been demonstrated. The presence of ERIC and REP sequences in the genome of this bacterial species was confirmed. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The RAPD, ERIC and REP-PCR techniques are useful methods for molecular typing of V. parahaemolyticus strains. To our knowledge this is the first study of this kind carried out on V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from the Philippines.
Subject(s)
Penaeidae/microbiology , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Vibrio parahaemolyticus/genetics , Animals , Bacterial Typing Techniques/methods , Biodiversity , DNA/genetics , DNA Fingerprinting/methods , Ecosystem , Food Microbiology , Genetic Variation/genetics , Philippines , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid/genetics , Temperature , Vibrio parahaemolyticus/isolation & purificationSubject(s)
Aeromonas/drug effects , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Plesiomonas/drug effects , Vibrio/drug effects , Animals , Catfishes/microbiology , Drug Resistance, Bacterial , Fish Diseases/microbiology , Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections/microbiology , Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections/veterinary , Humans , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Philippines , Thailand , Tilapia/microbiology , Water MicrobiologyABSTRACT
Strains of Aeromonas spp., 'non-cholera vibrios' (NCVs) and Plesiomonas shigelloides isolated from aquatic environments, fish and human diarrhoeal cases in the Philippines and Thailand were characterised for potential virulence markers. Thus, the production of cytotoxin, cell-associated and cell-free haemolysin and their capacity to adhere to human intestinal (Henle 407) cells in vitro was investigated. In addition, the occurrence of tlh and tdh haemolysin genes and urease activity among V. parahaemolyticus strains was investigated. The results showed that strains recovered from clinical sources (human and fish) produced these virulence factors, whereas these are absent in environmental strains.
