Characteristics of drug-resistant staphylococci isolated from milk of lambed ewes during the perinatal period

Staphylococci are still a challenge in veterinary medicine, as they are one of the aetiological factors causing clinical and subclinical mastitis in small ruminants. The aim of the study was to analyse the occurrence of staphylococci in milk obtained from Świniarka (SW) and Uhruska (UHR) sheep and to characterise their drug resistance and virulence.

Material and Methods

In total, 50 milk samples were collected from ewes seven days after parturition. Drug susceptibility analysis was performed based on Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute standards and demonstration of the presence of resistance genes was attempted.

Results

Staphylococcus spp. strains were identified in 70% of the samples, and 57.2% of the strains were S. aureus. Most of the tested strains (88.6%) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, and resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin was the dominant type in S. aureus strains. Coagulase-negative species (CoNS) exhibited resistance predominantly to penicillin, cefoxitin and tetracycline (86.6%, 73.3% and 46.6%, respectively).The presence of the mecC gene was detected in four cefoxitin resistant strains. In tetracycline- and chloramphenicol-resistant strains, phenotypic and genotypic resistance was statistically significantly more common among strains isolated from UHR than SW.

Conclusion

The present study highlights the problem of potential subclinical mastitis caused by drug-resistant strains of S. aureus and other CoNS species in lambed ewes. However, the occurrence of virulence factors in these strains is very rare.

Idioma:: Inglés

Calendario de la edición:: 4 veces al año
Temas de la revista:: Ciencias de la vida, Biología molecular, Microbiología y virología, Ciencias de la vida, otros, Medicina, Medicina veterinaria

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Characteristics of drug-resistant staphylococci isolated from milk of lambed ewes during the perinatal period

Agata Hahaj-Siembida

Aneta Nowakiewicz

Monika Greguła-Kania

Mariola Bochniarz

Aleksandra Trościańczyk

Marcelina Osińska

Publicado en línea: 25 mar 2025

Páginas: 41 - 50

Recibido: 01 ago 2024

Aceptado: 13 mar 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2025-0014

Palabras clavesheep mothers, drug resistance, animal health

© 2025 Agata Hahaj-Siembida et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction

Material and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Palabras clave
sheep mothers, drug resistance, animal health