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. 2025 Apr 18;15(1):13493.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97300-z.

Presence and genetic variability of Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius isolated from small ruminants in Central Europe

Benjamin Ulrich Bauer  1   2 , Christina Ambros  3 , Kerstin Boll  4 , Johanna Hilke  5 , Julia Magarete Riehm  4 , Olga Szaluś-Jordanow  6 , Cornelia Schneider  7 , Eva Sodoma  7 , Thomas Bauz  8 , Martin Ganter  9 , Sven Maurischat  10
Affiliations

Presence and genetic variability of Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius isolated from small ruminants in Central Europe

Benjamin Ulrich Bauer et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius (SAAN) causes abscesses in small ruminants, known as Morel's Disease. This study describes the presence of SAAN for the first time in Germany and Austria and examines the phylogenetic relationship among these isolates and previously described European and Sudanese ones. A total of 35 sheep and 10 goat isolates from 12 herds in Germany were available for analysis. SAAN isolates from four Polish goats and three Austrian sheep from different herds were included. Genome comparisons and phylogenetic analyses were conducted using core genome multilocus sequence typing. The comparison of the 52 SAAN core genomes revealed a close phylogenetic relationship among most German isolates (n = 38), with allelic differences ≤ 6 in two clusters associated with ST4581. In contrast, distinct clusters of the same ST included the four Polish goat isolates and two ovine isolates from Austria, respectively. A fifth cluster of ST3756 strains was identified on three German farms (six sheep, one goat) and an Austrian sheep. Tight phylogenetic relationships were observed irrespective of the host species. All isolates shared a common set of virulence genes and few known antimicrobial resistance determinants. The introduction of SAAN into herds is mostly unknown, but purchases appear to play a critical role.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Goat; Morel’s disease; Multilocus sequence typing; Sheep; Virulence factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics: The study was approved as it complied with the animal welfare guidelines of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, the German Animal Welfare Act, and Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. All animal procedures were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (approval code: TiHo_EA_14_24–24) and were conducted in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines. Animal-derived data were obtained exclusively for diagnostic purposes. Consequently, the use of these data did not require additional authorization from the IACUC or the competent authority under Directive 2010/63/EU.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Location of the Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius (SAAN)-positive sheep and goat herds in Germany, Austria, and Poland. Different colors indicate different genomic clusters of SAAN based on cgMLST analysis. © GeoBasis-DE / BKG (2023).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Minimum spanning tree based on comparative cgMLST analyses of SAAN isolates from this study, the type strain DSM 20714 and published genome sequences from the ENA database. The ENA strains and the DSM strain are marked in gray, whereas the isolates of this study are colored according to clusters 1–5. The allelic differences (AD) between strains are indicated as numbers between the nodes. The branch length is not proportionate to the allelic differences. Clusters are defined by strains with less than 10 ADs.
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