Fatal Exudative Dermatitis (FED) in Island Populations of Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): Spillover of a Virulent Staphylococcus aureus Clone (ST49) From Reservoir Hosts.

Fountain, Kay; Feil, Edward; Blackett, Tiffany; Butler, Helen; Schilling, Anna-Katarina; Meredith, Anna; Gibbon, Marjorie J; Cachedi, Catherine; Lloyd, David H; Loeffler, Anette; Feil, Eward J

Abstract

Fatal exudative dermatitis (FED) is a significant cause of death of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands where it is associated with a virulent clone of Staphylococcus aureus, ST49. S. aureus ST49 has been found in other hosts such as small mammals, pigs and humans, but the dynamics of carriage and disease of this clone, or any other lineage in red squirrels, is currently unknown. We used whole genome sequencing to characterise 228 isolates from healthy red squirrels on Jersey, the Isle of Arran (Scotland), and Brownsea Island (UK), from red squirrels on Jersey and the Isle of Wight which showed signs of FED, and a small number of isolates from other hosts. S. aureus was frequently carried by red squirrels on Arran with strains typically associated with small ruminants predominating. On Brownsea carriage was less frequent and involved strains associated with birds, small ruminants and humans, while on Jersey carriage was rare but ST49 predominated in diseased squirrels. By combining our data with publicly available sequences, we show that S. aureus carriage in red squirrels largely reflects frequent but facile acquisitions of strains carried by other hosts sharing their habitat (‘spillover’), possibly including, in the case of ST188, humans. Genome-wide association (GWAS) analysis of the ruminant lineage ST133 revealed variants in a small number of mostly bacterial cell membrane associated genes that were statistically associated with squirrel isolates from Arran, raising the possibility of specific adaptation to red squirrels in this lineage. In contrast there is little evidence that ST49 is a common carriage isolate of red squirrels and infection from reservoir hosts such as bank voles or rats, is likely to be driving the emergence of FED in red squirrels.

Citation

Fountain, K., Feil, E., Blackett, T., Butler, H., Schilling, A., Meredith, A., …Feil, E. J. (2021). Fatal Exudative Dermatitis (FED) in Island Populations of Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): Spillover of a Virulent Staphylococcus aureus Clone (ST49) From Reservoir Hosts. Microbial Genomics, https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000565

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 19, 2021
• Publication Date: May 20, 2021
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 28, 2021
• Journal: Microbial Genomics
• Publisher: Microbiology Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000565
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1442579