Isolation and genetic characterization of staphylococcus haemolyticus from cats

Abstract

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is widespread in humans and animals. The aim of this study was to characterize S. haemolyticus isolates from sick and healthy cats according to their antibiotic properties and biofilm formation. A total of 80 S. haemolyticus isolates from 36 healthy and 20 sick cats were investigated. All the isolates from the sick as well as from the healthy animals were multidrug resistant at the genetic level, whereas 82.5% showed phenotypic resistance. Almost all the isolates were methicillin-resistant S. haemolyticus (MRSH) at the genotypic and phenotypic levels of 98.75 and 96.25%, respectively. Moreover, the most frequently observed phenotypic resistances were those for erythromycin (87.5%) and penicillin (93.75%), and the isolates harboured genes involved in resistance to penicillin – blaZ (97.5%), aminoglycosides – aac(6’)Ie-aph(2”)Ia (92.5%), macrolidelincosamide-streptogramin – ermB (98.75%) and ermC (72.5%), and tetracyclines – tet(K) (98.75%) and tet(M) (100%). The percentage of biofilm-positive strains in healthy and sick cats amounted to 92.68 and 97.44% for the microtiter plate test (P=0.4962) and 71.17 and 56.41% for the Congo red agar assay (P=0.5164), respectively. Statistically significant associations were observed when the owner’s occupation was connected with healthcare, both human or veterinary, there was previous hospitalization of the owner, or cats were kept with other animals in the household. MRSH strains isolated from companion animals were frequently multidrug resistant, although they remained susceptible to antibiotics used in mainly human medicine.