Within-Household Transmission and Bacterial Diversity of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius

Abstract

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius can be transmitted between dogs and their owners and can cause opportunistic infections in humans. Whole genome sequencing was applied to identify the relatedness between isolates from human infections and isolates from dogs in the same households. Genome SNP diversity and distribution of plasmids and antimicrobial resistance genes identified related and unrelated isolates in both households. Our study shows that within-host bacterial diversity is present in S. pseudintermedius, demonstrating that multiple isolates from each host should preferably be sequenced to study transmission dynamics.

Keywords: One health; S. pseudintermedius; bacterial diversity; transmission; whole genome sequencing; zoonotic.

Figure 1

Minimum spanning tree of core-genomes showing the phylogenetic relationship between isolates from the two households, with the number of SNPs indicated on the branches. Isolates are identified by host species, followed by isolation site A = axillary, P = perineum, S = skin, W = wound, and lastly followed by the last three digits of their isolate number. Isolates from household 1 are shown against a blue background. Isolates from household 2 are shown against a white background. Isolates with no SNP differences are not shown.