Prevalence of methicillin resistance inisolates from dogs with skin and ear infections in South Africa.

Abstract

() is an important opportunistic pathogen, frequently associated with pyoderma and otitis in dogs. The emergence and rapid expansion of methicillin-resistant(MR) is problematic due to multidrug resistance and reduced treatment options. The aim of this study was to determine i) the prevalence of MRin dogs with pyoderma or otitis externa, ii) the antimicrobial resistance patterns of MRfrom South African isolates, and iii) the risk factors for MR-associated pyoderma or otitis externa in dogs in South Africa (RSA). Sixty-eight presumptive clinicalisolates (collected from 65 dogs) from five geographically dispersed laboratories in RSA were collected over 2 years. Possible MRisolates were flagged when resistance to oxacillin was observed. Thereafter, all isolates were confirmed asby polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and further genotyped for theA gene. Fifty-seven of 68 isolates were confirmed to be(83.8%), while 49/57 (85.9%) carriedA. Our findings showed that preliminary phenotypic methods supplemented by genotypic methods increased the accuracy of correctly identifying. All isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial drug. There was a high incidence of amoxicillin (70.1%) and enrofloxacin (65%) resistance. Important risk factors forA positive carriage were previous hospital admission, pruritus, and previous antibacterial failure. This study demonstrates a high prevalence ofA positive carriage (85.9% of samples) in MRpyoderma and otitis in dogs in RSA. There is an urgent need for better laboratory diagnosis of MRand surveillance of dogs presenting with pyoderma and otitis in South Africa.