Antimicrobial Resistant Staphylococcus Species Colonization in Dogs, Their Owners, and Veterinary Staff of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Naples, Italy

Francesca Paola Nocera; Francesca Pizzano; Angelo Masullo; Laura Cortese; Luisa De Martino

doi:10.3390/pathogens12081016

Antimicrobial Resistant Staphylococcus Species Colonization in Dogs, Their Owners, and Veterinary Staff of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Naples, Italy

Pathogens. 2023 Aug 5;12(8):1016. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12081016.

Authors

Francesca Paola Nocera¹, Francesca Pizzano¹, Angelo Masullo¹, Laura Cortese¹, Luisa De Martino^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples 'Federico II', Via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy.
² Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples 'Federico II', 80137 Naples, Italy.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify Staphylococcus species isolated from nasal swabs of both healthy and diseased dogs, and those of human origin, obtained from nasal swabs of both owners and veterinary staff. Firstly, pet owners were requested to complete a questionnaire relating to the care and relationship with their pets, whose results mainly showed a statistically significant higher frequency of hand washing in diseased dogs' owners than in healthy dogs' owners. Canine nasal swabs were obtained from 43 diseased dogs and 28 healthy dogs, while human nasal swabs were collected from the respective dogs' owners (71 samples) and veterinary staff (34 samples). The isolation and identification of Staphylococcus spp. were followed by disk diffusion method to define the antimicrobial resistance profiles against 18 different molecules. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius was the most frequent isolated strain in both diseased (33.3%) and healthy (46.1%) dogs. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most frequent isolated bacterium in diseased dogs' owners (66.6%), while in nasal samples of healthy dogs' owners, the same frequency of isolation (38.4%) was observed for both Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. All the isolated strains showed good susceptibility levels to the tested antimicrobials; however, the carriage of oxacillin-resistant strains was significantly higher in diseased dogs than in healthy ones (71% and 7.7%, respectively). Only in three cases the presence of the same bacterial species with similar antimicrobial resistance profiles in dogs and their owners was detected, suggesting the potential bacterial transmission. In conclusion, this study suggests potential transmission risk of staphylococci from dogs to humans or vice versa, and highlights that the clinical relevance of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius transmission from dog to human should not be underestimated, as well as the role of Staphylococcus aureus from human to dog transmission.

Keywords: Staphylococcus spp.; antimicrobial resistance; dogs; pet owners; transmission; veterinary staff.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a project of the Regional Center of “Farmacovigilanza Veterinaria Campania” (Naples, Italy), approved by Decree No. 126 of 22 September 2017 for the in-depth program concerning the study of multidrug-resistant bacteria in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Naples, Italy (OVUD). Francesca Paola Nocera is supported by a research fellowship (fixed-term researcher type A) financed by the Ministry of Education, University and Scientific Research (MIUR), Italy (PON Ricerca e Innovazione 2014-2020-Azione IV.4- Contratti di Ricerca su tematiche dell’Innovazione, Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria e Produzioni Animali, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, code n. PON_INN_RTDA_2021_62). The funder of Francesca Paola Nocera has no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.