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

• Main Authors: Vanessa Silva, Madalena Vieira-Pinto, Cândido Saraiva, Vera Manageiro, Lígia Reis, Eugénia Ferreira, Manuela Caniça, José L. Capelo, Gilberto Igrejas, Patrícia Poeta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: LA-MRSA; <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; CC398; poultry; quails
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/2038

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, SCC<i>mec</i>-, <i>spa</i>- and <i>agr</i>-typing. From the 100 samples, 29 MRSA were isolated. All strains were resistant to penicillin, cefoxitin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and clindamycin and carried the <i>bla</i>Z, <i>mec</i>A, <i>erm</i>B and <i>erm</i>C genes. All strains, except one, showed resistance to tetracycline and harbored the <i>tet</i>M, <i>tet</i>K and <i>tet</i>L genes in different combinations. Twenty strains belonged to ST398 and SCC<i>mec</i> 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.