ABSTRACT. From April 1999 to December 2000, a survey was made on the distribution of Staphylococcus species on the skin of 7 kinds of animals and humans. Staphylococci were isolated from 12 (100%) of 12 pigs, 17 (89.5%) of 19 horses, 30 (100%) of 30 cows, 73 (90.1%) of 81 chickens, 10 (40%) of 25 dogs, 23 (76.7%) of 30 laboratory mice, 20 (52.6%) of 38 pigeons, and 80 (88.9%) of 90 human beings. The predominant staphylococci isolated from a variety of animal species were novobiocin-resistant species, S. xylosus and S. sciuri regardless of the animal host species. The novobiocin-resistant species including S. xylosus and S. sciuri were only occasionally isolated from human skin. The predominant staphylococci found on human skin were novobiocin-sensitive species, S. epidermidis (63.8%), followed by S. warneri (28.8%) and S. hominis (13.8%). The results suggest that the staphylococcal flora inhabiting animal skin are different from those of human skin in regard to the predominant species isolated. In this study, we used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to examine the chromosomal polymorphisms of S. epidermidis isolated most frequently from human skin. Strains of S. epidermidis showed the greatest genomic diversity in their fragment patterns.KEY WORDS: animal and human skin, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Staphylococcus species.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 64(3): 245-250, 2002 Recently, taxonomic studies have shown that the genus Staphylococcus can be divided into at least 36 species and 17 subspecies, consisting of 6 coagulase-positive or coagulase-variable species and 31 coagulase-negative species.Staphylococci are widespread in nature and commonly found living on the skin, in skin glands, and on mucous membranes of humans and other mammals or birds. They are sometimes found in the mouth, blood, mammary glands, and intestinal, genitourinary, and upper respiratory tracts of these hosts.Knowledge of the distribution of the normal staphylococcal flora on the skin is an important factor in understanding the epidemiology of staphylococcal skin diseases in humans and animals. However, ecological studies on staphylococci inhabiting human [1, 12-14, 19, 21] and animal [6,12,16,26] skin have been reported infrequently in the literature. We [26] previously investigated Staphylococcus species on the skin of animals and humans during the period from 1987 to 1990, and found novobiocin-resistant staphylococci to be the predominant species in animals, whereas novobiocinsensitive staphylococci were abundantly present on human skin.In this report, we re-examined the distribution of Staphylococcus species on the skin of healthy animals and humans. We also compared the present results with those of our previous report [26] in terms of the isolation rate of staphylococci from the skin and the dominant species of staphylococci isolated.Among the coagulase-negative staphylococci species, S. epidermidis has been isolated most frequently from the anterior nares [1,9,13] or the skin [13,14] of healthy humans. Many reports have concerned the p...

ABSTRACT. Two isolates of mecA-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from retail raw chicken meat were characterized by phenotypic and genotypic methods. One isolate showed the human biovar, coagulase type III, phage group I • III, the lack of production of enterotoxins and TSST-1, and resistance to PCG/ABPC/EM/GM/KM. The other isolate showed the human biovar, coagulase type III, phage group III, production of enterotoxin C and TSST-1, and resistance to PCG/ABPC/CEZ. The biotyping results indicate that the two isolates showed characteristics of human S. aureus. They also harbored SCCmec type IV, which has prevalently been found in community-acquired MRSA isolates. This paper is the first publication regarding MRSA isolates from raw chicken meat in Japan. KEY WORDS: MRSA, raw chicken meat, SCCmec type IV.

ABSTRACT. A total of 444 samples of raw chicken meat (thighs, breasts, wings, livers, gizzards, hearts and ovaries) that retailed at 145 different supermarkets in 47 prefectures in Japan were examined for contamination with Staphylococcus aureus in association with its enterotoxigenicity. S. aureus was isolated from 292 (65.8%) of the samples, and from 131 of the 145 supermarkets. There was no significant difference in the detection rate of S. aureus according to the type of meat examined. About 80% of 714 isolates belonged to the poultry (57.1%) and human biotypes (22.1%). Seventy-eight (21.7%) of 360 isolates were enterotoxigenic and isolated from 78 samples in 53 supermarkets in 31 prefectures. Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) produced were SEB (50 isolates), SEA (14), SEC (8), SED (2), SEA+SEB (2), and SEA+SEC (2). Most of the enterotoxigenic isolates belonged to the human and poultry biotypes, coagulase type VII, VIII or IV, and were lysed by phages of group III. Identical SE types, biotypes, coagulase types and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns were shown in isolates from different types of meat at the same supermarket and from samples taken from different supermarkets in the same prefectures or in isolates from samples obtained from several different prefectures. Among the 50 SEB-producing isolates, 27 yielded three similar PFGE patterns that differed by only a few fragments, suggesting that they were closely related genetically. The three patterns were found in isolates of samples that retailed at 17 supermarkets in 11 prefectures, indicating that they may be disseminated among raw chicken meat in Japan. KEY WORDS: biotype, coagulase type, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Staphylococcus aureus, staphylococcal enterotoxin.

Methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci that were highly resistant to various antibiotics were isolated from apparently healthy horses in Japan. These organisms must be considered a potential threat to horses and veterinarians who care for them.

Objective: Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) deficiency is one of the causes of thyroid dyshormonogenesis, because TPO plays a key role in thyroid hormone biosynthesis. To determine the frequency and pattern of TPO abnormalities, we have been screening TPO genes of patients with congenital goitrous hypothyroidism. Subjects and methods: TPO genes of a patient with congenital goitrous hypothyroidism and her parents were directly sequenced, and two novel missense mutations (R665W and G771R) were found. The former was derived from her father and the latter from her mother. R665 and G771 were well conserved in the peroxidase superfamily. When mRNAs containing each of the mutations were transfected into CHO-K1 cells, each cell showed faint TPO enzyme activity. However, immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopic analyses revealed that neither of the mutated TPOs reached the plasma membrane. Conclusions: Two novel missense mutations in the TPO gene were found. TPO proteins encoded by these mutated alleles showed abnormal cellular localization; namely, localization on the plasma membrane was disturbed. The loss of plasma membrane localization in mutated TPOs brought about the iodide organification defect, which was diagnosed as congenital hypothyroidism.