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Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012
Dispatch

MRSA Variant in Companion Animals

Birgit WaltherComments to Author , Lothar H. Wieler, Szilvia Vincze, Esther-Maria Antão, Anja Brandenburg, Ivonne Stamm, Peter A. Kopp, Barbara Kohn, Torsten Semmler, and Antina Lübke-Becker
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany (B. Walther, L. H. Wieler, S. Vincze, E.-M. Antão, B. Kohn, T. Semmler, A. Lübke-Becker); Vet Med Labor GmbH, Ludwigsburg, Germany (A. Brandenburg, I. Stamm, P.A. Kopp)

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Table

Characteristics of 10 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates harboring mecALGA251 obtained from companion animals, Germany, 2008–2011*

IMT no. Original no. Year isolated Host Site Clinical signs Free-ranging animal Federal state OXA MIC† spa type‡ ST§
17403 VB 999987 2008 Cat Eye Purulent infection Yes Rhineland-Palatinate ≥4 t10033 1945
21135 VB 964992 2010 Cat Wound Lymphadenitis Yes Bavaria ≥4 t843 130
21231 VB 971931 2010 Cat Skin Dermatitis Unknown Hessia 1 t1773 130
24068 VB 961584 2010 Cat Tachea Stridor Yes Hessia 0.5 t10006 599
25044 VB 969929 2010 Dog Abscess Tumor, dolor No Bavaria 2 t1694 599
25147 VB 969572–2 2010 Cat Wound Suture dehiscence Yes North Rhine-Westphalia 2 t278 599
25470 VB 972406 2010 Dog Eye Purulent infection No Bavaria 2 t1694 599
25715 VB 969935 2010 Guinea pig Fistula Purulent infection No Hessia 2 t843 130
28299 VB 952042 2011 Cat Phlegmon Dermatitis Yes Bavaria 1 t278 599
28429 IMT 2272/11 2011 Cat Abscess Fever Yes Berlin ≥4 t10009 130

*IMT, Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; OXA, oxacillin; ST, sequence type; VB, Vet Med Labor GmbH, Ludwigsburg, Germany. All isolates were positive for nuc and negative for mecA according to PCR to detect MRSA (8), and all were positive for mecALGA251 according to PCR to detect the novel mecA homologue (5).
†Detected by the VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux, Nürtingen, Germany).
‡Spa repeats and spa type determined according to Harmsen et al. (11) and the Ridom SpaServer (http://spaserver.ridom.de).
§Determined according to Enright et al. (10).

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