First Isolation of Methicillin-Resistant Livestock-Associated Staphylococcus aureus CC398 and CC1 in Intensive Pig Production Farms in Argentina

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important pathogen that causes healthcare- and community-associated infections in humans. Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) has emerged and has been disseminated among pigs worldwide. In the present work, the first LA-MRSA isolated from nasal colonization in healthy fattening pigs in Argentina was characterized. The isolates showed a high degree of multi-drug resistance, and the genomic characterization revealed the presence of relevant resistance genes in the isolates. The present study revealed that LA-MRSA colonizing healthy pigs in Argentina belongs to CC398 and CC1, two MRSA lineages frequently associated to pigs in other countries. ABSTRACT: Since the mid-2000s, livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) has been identified among pigs worldwide, CC398 being the most relevant LA-MRSA clone. In the present work, nasal swabs were taken from healthy pigs of different age categories (25 to 154 days) from 2019 to 2021 in four intensive farms located in three provinces of Argentina. The aim of the present study was to characterize the first LA-MRSA isolates that colonized healthy fattening pigs in Argentina in terms of their resistance phenotype and genotype and to know the circulating clones in the country. Antimicrobial susceptibility, presence of the mecA gene and PCR screening of CC398 were evaluated in all the isolates. They were resistant to cefoxitin, penicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin but susceptible to nitrofurantoin, rifampicin, vancomycin and linezolid. Furthermore, 79% were resistant to clindamycin and lincomycin, 68% to erythromycin, 58% to gentamicin and 37% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. All the isolates were multidrug resistant. The clonal relation was assessed by SmaI-PFGE (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) and a representative isolate of each PFGE type was whole genome sequenced by Illumina. MLST (multilocus sequence typing), resistance and virulence genes and SCCmec typing were performed on sequenced isolates. The isolates were differentiated in three clonal types by PFGE, and they belonged to sequence-type ST398 (58%) and ST9, CC1 (42%) by MLST. SCCmec typeV and several resistance genes detected showed complete correlation with resistance phenotypes. The present study revealed that LA-MRSA colonizing healthy pigs in Argentina belongs to CC398 and CC1, two MRSA lineages frequently associated to pigs in other countries.