Identification of Staphylococcus Pseudintermedius and MRSP in Dogs with Pyoderma by PCR

Pyoderma is one of the most common dermatological disorders encountered in small animal practice. Almost ninety per cent of the cases of pyoderma in dogs is caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Staphylococcus and now Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is recognized as the main etiological agent responsible for pyoderma Further, Methicillin Resistant S pseudintermedius is being reported worldwide and represents a serious threat to the health of dogs. However not much work on S pseudintermedius has been done in India. Hence the study, with the primary objective being isolation, identification and genotypic characterization of staphylococcal organisms responsible for pyoderma in dogs along with detection of genotypic resistance to methicillin in these organisms. Dogs presented to the Veterinary College Hospital, Bangalore with clinical signs suggestive of pyoderma were chosen as subjects for the study. Materials from lesions from these dogs were collected, processed and cultured in Mannitol Salt Agar. DNA extracted from these isolates were subjected to multiplex PCR using species specific primers and were also tested for methicillin resistance genotypically by PCR targeting the mecA gene. All the twenty isolates were staphylococci and eleven of the isolates were found to be S pseudintermedius and nine were S aureus. Sixteen of the twenty isolates were resistant to methicillin genotypically on PCR. The study conclusively proved the occurrence of S pseudintermedius in dogs with pyoderma which probably has not been reported from India. Further, it also proved the occurrence of methicillin resistant S pseudintermedius and S aureus in dogs with pyoderma which could be important from the perspective of therapeutic management of pyoderma