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4 October 2023 ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS SPP. ISOLATED FROM FELIDS AND CANIDS IN BELO HORIZONTE ZOO, BRAZIL
Leonardo Pereira de Alcântara, Jordana Almeida Santana, Rafael Gariglio Clark Xavier, Herlandes Penha Tinoco, Carlyle Mendes Coelho, Daniel Oliveira dos Santos, Renato Lima Santos, Marcelo Pires Nogueira de Carvalho, Rodrigo Otávio Silveira Silva
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Abstract

The epidemiology of Staphylococcus spp. has become a major concern among humans and animals due to increasing antimicrobial resistance and frequent reports of infection. Despite the importance of animals as reservoirs for staphylococci, little is known about the epidemiology of Staphylococcus spp. in most nondomestic species, including canids and felids. This study evaluated the frequency, distribution, and patterns of antimicrobial resistance of staphylococcal species isolated from captive felids and canids from Belo Horizonte Zoo, Brazil. Rectal, oral, and nasal swabs from apparently healthy maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus, n= 7), a lion (Panthera leo, n = 1), jaguars (Panthera onca, n = 3), and one swab of a cougar (Puma concolor) with an ear infection were streaked onto mannitol salt agar. Colonies identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, polymerase chain reaction for the Staphylococcus intermedius group (SIG), and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility tests and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius strains were subjected to multilocus sequence typing. Staphylococcus species were isolated from 24 of the 34 samples (70.6%). Among the isolated strains, S. pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus felis were the most frequent species (41.7 and 25%, respectively). Five novel sequence types were identified among the S. pseudintermedius isolates. Resistance to tetracycline (7/24, 29.2%) or penicillin (6/23, 26.1%) was significantly higher than the other antimicrobial agents tested (P < 0.05). One isolate, Staphylococcus nepalensis, was positive for mecA and resistant to five antimicrobials, and was thus classified as multidrug-resistant. The present work suggests that maned wolves are natural hosts of SIG and also reports the isolation of S. felis in sick and healthy, captive, nondomestic carnivores. The isolated staphylococci were susceptible to most classes of antimicrobials tested. However, the multidrug-resistance capability of an S. nepalensis strain reinforces the hypothesis that felids and canids act as reservoirs of pathogens with antimicrobial resistance.

Leonardo Pereira de Alcântara, Jordana Almeida Santana, Rafael Gariglio Clark Xavier, Herlandes Penha Tinoco, Carlyle Mendes Coelho, Daniel Oliveira dos Santos, Renato Lima Santos, Marcelo Pires Nogueira de Carvalho, and Rodrigo Otávio Silveira Silva "ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS SPP. ISOLATED FROM FELIDS AND CANIDS IN BELO HORIZONTE ZOO, BRAZIL," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 54(3), 584-592, (4 October 2023). https://doi.org/10.1638/2022-0128
Accepted: 10 April 2023; Published: 4 October 2023
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