Exudative epidermitis is difficult to treat because of widespread antimicrobial resistant Staphylococcus hyicus

Exudative epidermitis (EE) or greasy pig disease is caused by Staphylococcus hyicus. Certain strains of S. hyicus produce heatlabile exfoliative toxins that are important in the pathogenesis of the disease. Infection of skin wounds during the early suckling period is the typical presentation.

Recently many herds have moved away from clipping needle teeth at birth. There may be a resultant, an increase in prevalence of EE. Traditionally, an injection of penicillin has been the treatment of choice but antimicrobial resistance to penicillin has been noted (1). There are several studies determining the occurrence of different genes encoding antimicrobial resistance in S. hyicus (2) but there is limited information about the distribution of the mecA gene which encodes the low affinity penicillin-binding protein PBP 2A. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent of antimicrobial resistance of S.hyicus and to determine whether the mecA gene is present in S. hyicus in Ontario, Canada.

Jeonghwa Park; Robert Friendship; Cate Dewey; Scott Weese; Zvonimir Poljak

University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

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