Prevalence of Staphylococcus Species Colonization in Healthy and Sick Cats

Abstract

Staphylococcus is one of the most frequently isolated genera of opportunistic bacteria in animals and human beings. Staphylococci in mammals mostly inhabit the skin and mucous membranes. The objectives of the study were to investigate the distribution of staphylococcal species in healthy and sick cats in order to find diagnostic markers. The risk factors associated with colonization were also explored. Isolates from healthy (n=520) and sick cats (n=67) were identified at the species level using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Swabs from conjunctival sacs, nares, skin, anus, and wounds were investigated using this technique. The diversity of the Staphylococcus species was high: 26 and 17 species in healthy and sick cats, respectively, and predominantly coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were isolated. The most frequently observed were S. felis and S. epidermidis in healthy cats, whereas S. felis and S. haemolyticus were most often found in sick animals. S. aureus strains were only isolated from healthy cats, whereas the only coagulase-positive Staphylococcus (CoPS) which occurred in the sick cats group was S. pseudintermedius. The sick, more frequently than the healthy animals, were colonized with S. pseudintermedius and S. haemolyticus and the relationship was statistically significant. Mostly, regardless of the state of their health, similar Staphylococcus species were isolated from cats; therefore, particular attention should be paid during the interpretation of diagnostic results.

Pathogenetic role of Staphylococcus aureus in purulent keratoconjunctivitis in cats

“…Researchers point to the fact that conditionally pathogenic microflora can cause a wide range of complications and report that the morbidity, antibiotic resistance of different types of staphylococci in cats depends on the state of the body's defenses. A statistically significant correlation was observed between cat health and staph infection (Bierowiec et al, 2019). The high frequency of colonization of cats by staphylococci is confirmed by Ma et al (2019), who isolated them in 73.8% of animals, which is consistent with the results of our studies.…”

S. pseudintermedius and S. aureus lineages with transmission ability circulate as causative agents of infections in pets for years

“…In this work, SP and SA were detected causing infection in three and two cats, respectively. These species have been formerly recovered from diseased cats [ 1 , 17 ], however, a recent study has reported predominance of other staphylococcal species, such as S. felis and S. haemolyticus , among feline infections [ 1 ].…”

“…Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA) are harmless colonizers of the skin and mucosa of humans and animals [ 1 ], but they are also frequently implicated in opportunistic infections. In pets, especially in dogs, SP is most frequently detected than SA, both as colonizer and as causative agent of infection.…”

Food-derived coagulase-negative Staphylococcus as starter cultures for fermented foods

“…In Greece, S. lugdunensis was isolated from various infection sites in hospitalized patients (Giormezis et al, 2015 ). Bierowiec et al reported that while most tested S. lugdunensis isolates were susceptible to nine antibiotics (penicillin G, gentamicin, rifampicin, cefoxitin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, norfloxacin, clindamycin, and erythromycin), some showed resistance to erythromycin and/or tetracycline via strain-specific carriage of ermC and/or tetK (Bierowiec et al, 2019 ). In addition, a very small number of S. lugdunensis isolates carried SSC mec type IVa.…”