.
It is good to see a reference to the importance of geography in respect of MRSA st398.
It makes it all the more irritating to see a black hole of veterinary ignorance, certainly not MRSA absence, over Britain.
Close contact too. Interesting stuff for those prepared to work to protect the hospitals from the impact of zoonotic disease in intensive farming.and associated veterinary corruption.
Full abstract here
The distribution of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in MRSA CC398 is
associated with both host and country
" Received July 1, 2011.
" Revision received August 30, 2011.
" Accepted September 7, 2011.
Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex (CC)398 has emerged from pigs to cause human infections in Europe and North America. We used a new 62-strain S. aureus microarray (SAM-62) to compare genomes of isolates from three geographical areas (Belgium, Denmark and Netherlands) to understand how CC398 colonises different mammalian hosts. The core genomes of 44 pig isolates and 32 isolates from humans did not vary. However, mobile genetic element (MGE) distribution was variable including SCCmec. ?3 bacteriophage and human specificity genes (chp, sak, scn) were found in invasive human but not pig isolates. SaPI5 and putative ruminant specificity gene variants vwb, scn) were common but not pig specific. Virulence and resistance gene carriage was host-associated, but country specific. We conclude MGE exchange is frequent in CC398, and greatest amongst populations in close contact. This feature may help determine epidemiological associations amongst isolates of the same lineage.
