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Volume 72, Issue 2

Evidence of cat-to-human transmission of Open Access

Abstract

is a coagulase-negative staphylococcal species that is commonly isolated from healthy cats. Like other commensal staphylococci, can cause opportunistic infections, e.g. otitis externa, skin and urinary tract infections, in cats.

Several studies have reported within-household transmission between humans and pets and human infections caused by coagulase-positive staphylococci. However, human infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci of zoonotic origin are relatively rare.

Culture of a surgical site infection in a 58-year-old woman who underwent a laminectomy revealed dominant growth of . The three cats owned by the patient were sampled to investigate potential within-household transmission. isolates were sequenced to investigate the relatedness of the isolates and to look for virulence factors and host specific genes.

All cats were colonized with . Comparative genomics of the isolates showed that each cat was colonized with a distinct genotype. The patient’s isolate clustered with isolates of one of the cats. Sequence analysis of the studied isolates together with 29 publicly available genomes detected putative virulence factors that can be crucial in potential interspecies transmission.

The current case is the first reported human infection caused by and highlights the zoonotic potential of this bacterial species. Evidence of cat-to-human transmission was shown by comparative genomics of isolates from the patient with isolates of her cats.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): cat , Staphylococcus felis , transmission and zoonoses
© 2023 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2023-02-10
2024-04-25
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Evidence of cat-to-human transmission of Staphylococcus felis
J. Med. Microbiol. 72, 001661 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001661
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001661
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001661
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