Staphylococcus In Foxes and Other animals

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 Researchers from Edinburgh and Brisbane have produced an interesting paper titled Comparative genomics of the Staphylococcus intermedius group of animal pathogens the link to which is:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2012.00044/full

There is also increased interest in mastitis in vixens by a university so that should produce some interesting results as we have had 3 cases in Bristol so there is little doubt mastitis will be encountered in other parts of the UK.  The above report opens with:

"The Staphylococcus intermedius group consists of three closely related coagulase-positive bacterial species including S. intermedius, Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, and Staphylococcus delphini. S. pseudintermedius is a major skin pathogen of dogs, which occasionally causes severe zoonotic infections of humans. S. delphini has been isolated from an array of different animals including horses, mink, and pigeons, whereas S. intermedius has been isolated only from pigeons to date. Here we provide a detailed analysis of the S. pseudintermedius whole genome sequence in comparison to high quality draft S. intermedius and S. delphini genomes, and to other sequenced staphylococcal species. 

"The core genome of the SIG was highly conserved with average nucleotide identity (ANI) between the three species of 93.61%, which is very close to the threshold of species delineation (95% ANI), highlighting the close-relatedness of the SIG species. However, considerable variation was identified in the content of mobile genetic elements, cell wall-associated proteins, and iron and sugar transporters, reflecting the distinct ecological niches inhabited. Of note, S. pseudintermedius ED99 contained a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat locus of the Nmeni subtype and S. intermedius contained both Nmeni and Mtube subtypes. In contrast to S. intermedius and S. delphini and most other staphylococci examined to date, S. pseudintermedius contained at least nine predicted reverse transcriptase Group II introns. Furthermore, S. pseudintermedius ED99 encoded several transposons which were largely responsible for its multi-resistant phenotype. 

"Overall, the study highlights extensive differences in accessory genome content between closely related staphylococcal species inhabiting distinct host niches, providing new avenues for research into pathogenesis and bacterial host-adaptation."

If you are a wildlife vet or involved in wildlife rescue and care I recommend reading the article as presented.  

Foxes, in particular, are identified as a reservoir for mecA-positive staphylococci and strains with antibiotic resistance. Monitoring and surveillance of S. aureus in wildlife is crucial for understanding zoonotic transmission and the spread of resistance.

 It must be noted that every time I post something like this people hit the panic button. No, foxes are not a big threat to humans or their pets and even the much loved Robin carries varioustypes bacteria around with them.

Remember that until the last couple decades there were only three real health problems associated with foxes -sarcoptic mange and rabies -rabies was last in the UK in 1923 and the cases up to that point all originated (probably) with imported pet dogs or dogs taken abroadprior to any anti rabies legislations.  We have learnt a great deal about fox health recently even if some of that information is blocked from publication.