Staphylococcus pseudintermedius ST2660 isolated from a cat has strong biofilm-forming ability and increases biofilm formation at cat’s normal body temperature

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius has been isolated from dogs, cats, and horses and is also known as an emergent zoonotic agent. We administered orbifloxacin, a fluoroquinolone, to treat bacterial infections of cutaneous wounds caused by excessive grooming of the skin in contact with the subcutaneous port of the subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) system in a cat. However, after 80 days of treatment, a severe abscess was observed in the wound and fluoroquinolone-resistant S. pseudintermedius was isolated from the abscess. The isolate was identified as a novel sequence type (ST) 2660 and contained genes for leukocidins (lukS and lukF), exfoliative toxin (siet), and biofilm regulation (icaA and icaD). The isolate was resistant to macrolide, lincosamide, fluoroquinolone, and tetracycline classes. In addition, the isolate had strong biofilm-forming ability which significantly increased with culturing at 39 °C compared with that at 37 °C, suggesting that the isolate prefers a cats' body temperature as the optimal biofilm growth condition. Notably, the biofilms were increased in the presence of doxycycline with culturing at 39 °C. This study is the first report in Japan on the new sequence type of S. pseudintermedius isolated from a companion animal and clarifies the distinctive virulence of S. pseudintermedius.