Insights into the Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Staphylococcus hyicus Isolates from Spanish Swine Farms

• Published in: Antibiotics (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 9; p. 871
• Main Authors: Mencía-Ares, Oscar, Ramos-Calvo, Eva, González-Fernández, Alba, Aguarón-Turrientes, Álvaro, Pastor-Calonge, Ana Isabel, Miguélez-Pérez, Rubén, Gutiérrez-Martín, César B, Martínez-Martínez, Sonia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.09.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; biofilm formation; Biofilms; Causes of; Diagnosis; Diseases; Drug resistance; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Drug therapy; exfoliative toxins; Exudation; exudative epidermitis; Farms; Genetic aspects; Genotype & phenotype; Health aspects; Hogs; Identification and classification; Lincosamides; Livestock farms; Microbiological research; Multidrug resistance; Neomycin; Oxytetracycline; Pork industry; Skin; Staphylococcal infections; Staphylococcus; Staphylococcus hyicus; Swine; Swine production; Tetracyclines; Toxins; Virulence; Virulence (Microbiology); Virulence factors; Weaning; Zoonoses; Spain; biofilm formation; exudative epidermitis; exfoliative toxins; Staphylococcus hyicus; virulence; antimicrobial resistance
• ISSN: 2079-6382; 2079-6382
• DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics13090871

is a significant pathogen in swine, primarily causing exudative epidermitis. Addressing infections requires both the characterization of virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in farm-recovered isolates. This study aimed to characterize the virulence, AMR, and biofilm formation of isolates from Spanish swine farms. A total of 49 isolates were analyzed, originating from animals with cutaneous, reproductive, and systemic clinical signs. Half of the isolates (49.0%) were positive for at least one virulence factor (VF) gene, with being the most frequent (28.6%). A high frequency of multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates was observed (83.7%), with significant resistance to commonly used antimicrobials, including lincosamides (83.7%), pleuromutilins (81.6%), penicillins (75.5%), and tetracyclines (73.5%). All isolates exhibited robust in vitro biofilm formation capacity (DC = 15.6 ± 7.0). Significant associations were found between VFs, biofilm formation, and AMR patterns, highlighting the link between the resistance to lincosamides and pleuromutilins ( < 0.001; Φ = 0.57) and macrolides ( < 0.001; Φ = 0.48), and the association of AMR with the and VF genes. These findings underscore the need for targeted diagnostics to improve management and therapeutic strategies to mitigate the impact of on swine production.