Staphylococcus aureus CC398: Host Adaptation and Emergence of Methicillin Resistance in Livestock

UNLABELLED: Since its discovery in the early 2000s, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex 398 (CC398) has become a rapidly emerging cause of human infections, most often associated with livestock exposure. We applied whole-genome sequence typing to characterize a diverse collection of CC398 isolates (n = 89), including MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) from animals and humans spanning 19 countries and four continents. We identified 4,238 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the 89 core genomes. Minimal homoplasy (consistency index = 0.9591) was detected among parsimony-informative SNPs, allowing for the generation of a highly accurate phylogenetic…

• CF
  Center for Genomic Epidemiology

  Award: 09-067103/DSF
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: GM080602
• SS
  Statens Serum Institut