Evidence for Human Adaptation and Foodborne Transmission of Livestock-Associated Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureus: Table 1.
We investigated the evolution and epidemiology of a novel livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain, which colonizes and infects urban-dwelling Danes even without a Danish animal reservoir. Genetic evidence suggests both poultry and human adaptation, with poultry meat implicated as a probable source.
Rapid differentiation between livestock-associated and livestock-independent Staphylococcus aureus CC398 clades.
Staphylococcus aureus clonal complex 398 (CC398) isolates cluster into two distinct phylogenetic clades based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealing a basal human clade and a more derived livestock clade. The scn and tet(M) genes are strongly associated with the human and the livestock clade, respectively, due to loss and acquisition of mobile genetic elements. We present canonical single-nucleotide polymorphism (canSNP) assays that differentiate the two major host-associated S. aureus CC398 clades and a duplex PCR assay for detection of scn and tet (M). The canSNP assays correctly placed 88 S. aureus CC398 isolates from a reference collection into the human and livestock clade…