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| The multi-resistance gene cfr has been widely disseminated among the livestock in China. A total of 444 Staphylococcus isolates recovered from pigs, workers, and the environment of a slaughterhouse and a hog market in Guangzhou, China, to investigate the prevalence and dissemination of cfr among staphylococci from different sources. 20 (4.5%) staphylococcal isolates, including one Staphylococcus cohnii, one Staphylococcus aureus, and 18 Staphylococcus simulans, harboured the cfr gene. The cfr-carrying S. aureus strain BKED isolated from the ground surface swab in hog market, exhibits spa type t889 and belongs to the clonal lineage ST9. SmaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of 26 staphylococcal strains (22 S. simulans and 4 S. cohnii ), including previously reported cfr-carrying staphylococci of animal food origin, exhibited 19 major PFGE patterns A-S. Clonal spread of cfr between porcine strains and strains of human, the environment, food origins occurred. The genetic contexts of the cfr gene in plasmids pHNKF3, pHNZT2 and pHNCR35 from S. simulans of swine or human origin were very similar to that observed in other Staphylococcus species isolated from animal, human clinics, and animal food. In summary, clone spread and horizontal transmission via mobile elements were the two main ways leading to the dissemination of the multi-resistance gene cfr among staphylococcal isolates from different sources. Given the possibility that the cfr gene is transferred from animals to humans via the food chain, close contact and the environment, continued surveillance of this gene in pigs and workers in close contact with them is warranted. |
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| Keywords:Veterinary Microbiology; Staphylococcus spp.; linezolid; food animal |
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