| Summary: | <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (<i>S. aureus</i>) is a major causative agent of mastitis and is resistant to many antibiotics. Thus, there is a need to characterize the genetic determinants of <i>S. aureus</i> erythromycin resistance, such as <i>ermA</i>, <i>ermB</i> and <i>ermC</i>. The current study aimed to determine the phenotypic and genotypic erythromycin resistance profile and relatedness of <i>S. aureus</i> recovered from bovine mastitis and humans in close contact. A total of 14 mastitis-infected buffalo milk samples and 16 samples from their respective milkers were collected from different farms of Lahore, Pakistan. The antibiotic resistance profile was determined through the disk diffusion test. The overall prevalence of <i>S. aureus</i> in mastitis-affected buffaloes was found to be 75%, of which 52.1% were resistant to erythromycin and 42.8% to clindamycin. <i>S. aureus</i> isolates recovered from milker nasal samples showed 56.25% resistance to erythromycin and 44% resistance to clindamycin. Genotypic antibiotic resistance profiles were determined from 14 milk samples through PCR. Overall, eight (52.1%), three (21.4%) and five (35.7%) <i>S. aureus</i> isolates were positive for the <i>ermA</i>, <i>ermB</i> and <i>ermC</i> genes, respectively. Moreover, 16 milker nasal <i>S. aureus</i> isolates were also tested for the presence of <i>ermA</i>, <i>ermB</i> and <i>ermC</i> genes. The <i>ermA</i>, <i>ermB</i> and <i>ermC</i> genes were observed in nine(56.7%), five (31.3%) and seven (43.7%) isolates, respectively. A significant association was shown between phenotypic and genotypic erythromycin resistance. The results indicate both that there are sufficient genetic similarities, and the actual transmission of erythromycin resistance genes between these two hosts of <i>S. aureus.</i>
|
|---|