AUTHOR=Jamrozy Dorota , Misra Raju , Xu Zhen , Ter-Stepanyan Mary M. , Kocharyan Karine S. , Cave Rory , Hambardzumyan Armen Dz , Mkrtchyan Hermine V. 

TITLE=Novel Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC8 Clone Identified in a Hospital Setting in Armenia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01592

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.01592

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of methicillin-resistant <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> (MRSA) has been sparse in low- and middle-income countries, therefore, its population structure is unknown for many regions. We conducted a pilot surveillance of MRSA in the maternity ward of a teaching hospital in Armenia, to characterize the genotypes of circulating MRSA clones. In total, 10 MRSA isolates from a hospital environment (<italic>n</italic> = 4) and patients (<italic>n</italic> = 6) were recovered between March and May 2015 and April and May 2016, respectively. WGS analysis showed that the isolates belonged to two clonal complexes (CCs): CC8 (<italic>n</italic> = 8) and CC30 (<italic>n</italic> = 2). MRSA CC30 isolates carried staphylococcal cassette chromosome <italic>mec</italic> (SCC<italic>mec</italic>) type IVa, whereas MRSA CC8 revealed a type-V<sub>T</sub>-related SCC<italic>mec</italic>, which contained a CRISPR/Cas array and showed a high similarity to SCC<italic>mec</italic> found in coagulase-negative staphylococci. All but one MRSA CC8 isolates carried a plasmid identical to the pSK67 and four also carried a pathogenicity island similar to SaPI5. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the MRSA CC8 isolates formed a monophyletic cluster, which emerged around 1995 and was distinct from representatives of globally-distributed MRSA CC8 lineages. WGS characterization of MRSA in countries with no previous <italic>S. aureus</italic> genomic surveillance can therefore reveal an unrecognized diversity of MRSA lineages.</p>