The Effect of Age and Sampling Site on the Outcome of <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Infection in a Rabbit (<i>Oryctolagus cuniculus</i>) Farm in Italy

• Main Authors: Anna-Rita Attili, Patrizia Nebbia, Alessandro Bellato, Livio Galosi, Cristiano Papeschi, Giacomo Rossi, Martina Linardi, Eleonora Fileni, Vincenzo Cuteri, Francesco Chiesa, Patrizia Robino
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: methicillin-sensitive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MSSA); spa-typing; rabbits; lesion; nasal carriage; Italy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/5/774

A study in an intensive Italian rabbit farm was carried out to assess the effect of age category and anatomical site on detection of <i>S. aureus</i> and to describe the diversity of spa-types within farm, including workers. On 400 rabbits of different age, 2066 samples from the ear, nose, axilla, groin, perineum and lesions were analyzed and 595 <i>S. aureus</i> were isolated. In total, 284 (71.0%) were colonized by <i>S. aureus</i> in at least one anatomical site and 35 animals (8.8%) had lesions. <i>S. aureus</i> prevalence was higher in adults than other age categories. Ear (29.4%) and nose (27.2%) were the most frequently colonized sites. The presence of lesions due to <i>S. aureus</i> was strongly associated with the colonization of at least one body site and the risk of lesions was proportionate to the number of sites colonized by <i>S. aureus</i>. In addition, a genotypic characterization was performed for 96 <i>S. aureus</i> strains randomly selected. All isolates resulted as low-virulence methicillin-sensitive-<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (LV-MSSA). Five different clonal lineages were found: spa-t2802, the most frequently detected (53.1%), also in human samples; spa-t491 (38.5%); spa-t094; t605; and spa-t2036. Strains t094, t491 and t2036 have not been isolated in Italy before.