Antimicrobial resistance pattern and virulence profile of S. aureus isolated from household cattle and buffalo with mastitis in Egypt

Methicillin resistant S. aureus from cows with mastitis has received a growing interest worldwide. The present study aimed to provide a detailed description of the resistance and virulence traits of isolates from bovine mastitis samples. A total of 550 quarter milk samples were collected from 140 mastitic household dairy cows and buffalo from five herds at Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt, during 2017 and 2018. Staphylococcus spp. were isolated and differentiated using MALDI-TOF MS. A genotypic characterization was performed for S. aureus isolates using DNA-microarray and staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing. Furthermore, antibiotic resistances were phenotypically confirmed using broth microdilution. Six different clonal lineages (CC1-MRSA, CC5-MRSA, CC45-MRSA, CC97-MSSA, CC50-MSSA and CC1153-MSSA), including seven spa types (t127, t688, t132, t267, t521, t224 and t903) were identified. Spa type t267 was the most dominant among the investigated herds. This is the first report of the occurrence of clonal lineages CC97, CC1, CC45, CC50 and CC1153 from bovine mastitis in Egypt. All MRSA isolates and 33.3 % of MSSA were multi-resistant (i.e. resistant to more than three classes of compounds). Various virulence determinants were also observed including leukocidins, hemolysins, and enterotoxins. The study demonstrates a low diversity of S. aureus isolates recovered from several dairy herds. The findings of the observed virulotypes can be useful for future studies on anti-virulence therapies, immunogenicity and vaccine development.