Staphylococcus aureus is among the most common zoonotic pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses worldwide. The main objectives of the current study were therefore to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of S. aureus isolated from goats in Korea and to investigate the molecular characteristics of identified methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). In the study, 481 S. aureus isolates (431 from the nasal cavity and 50 from carcass) were recovered from 1146 carcasses and nasal swabs between July 2018 and January 2019. Approximately 82% and 72.6% of nasal and carcass isolates, respectively, were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, with the highest rate of resistance to penicillin, followed by resistance to chloramphenicol and tetracycline. Relatively small proportions of the isolates were resistant to cefoxitin, clindamycin, and erythromycin. However, all S. aureus isolates were sensitive to linezolid, rifampin, and vancomycin. Six MRSA isolates were obtained, three each from the nasal cavity and carcass. MRSA isolates were of two sequence types (ST) (ST72 and ST398), three spa types (t664, t324, and t571), and two SCCmec types (IV and V). The ST72 MRSA isolates had identical PFGE profiles. In addition, ST72 MRSA-SCCmec IV isolates carried at least six staphylococcal leukotoxin- and enterotoxin-encoding genes (lukED, seg, sei, sem, sen, seo, and seq). The remaining ST398 isolate carried only the lukED gene and was additionally resistant to eight non–β-lactam antibiotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of MRSA from goats in Korea. There is a possibility of transmission of MRSA from goat to human or contamination of food products. Therefore, regular microbiological investigation in goats, farms, and slaughterhouses is critical to determine the existence of virulent and multi-drug resistant (MDR) S. aureus and to implement preventive strategies.

金黄色葡萄球菌是引起全世界食源性疾病的最常见的人畜共患病原体之一。因此，本研究的主要目的是确定从韩国山羊中分离出的金黄色葡萄球菌的抗菌药敏性，并调查鉴定出的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）的分子特征。在研究中，金黄色葡萄球菌481个在2018年7月至2019年1月之间，从1146具屠体和鼻拭子中分离出了分离株（来自鼻腔的分离株为431个，来自car体的分离株为50个）。分别约有82％和72.6％的分离株分别对至少一种抗菌剂具有抗药性，对青霉素的耐药率最高，其次是对氯霉素和四环素的耐药率。相对较小比例的分离株对头孢西丁，克林霉素和红霉素有抗性。但是，所有金黄色葡萄球菌分离株均对利奈唑胺，利福平和万古霉素敏感。获得了六个MRSA分离株，每个来自鼻腔和car体三个。MRSA分离物具有两种序列类型（ST）（ST72和ST398），三种spa类型（t664，t324和t571）和两种SCCmec类型（IV和V）。ST72 MRSA分离株具有相同的PFGE图谱。另外，ST72 MRSA- SCCmec IV分离株携带至少六个葡萄球菌白细胞毒素和肠毒素编码基因（lukED，seg，sei，sem，sen，seo和seq）。其余的ST398分离株仅携带lukED该基因对八种非β-内酰胺类抗生素具有抗性。据我们所知，这是韩国山羊MRSA的首次报道。MRSA可能从山羊传播给人或污染食品。因此，对山羊，农场和屠宰场进行定期微生物学调查对于确定是否存在强毒和多药耐药（MDR）金黄色葡萄球菌以及实施预防策略至关重要。