| Sumario: | Background: <i>Staphylococcus pseudintermedius</i> and <i>S. aureus</i> are important pathogens in dogs. This study established carrier rates, strain diversity and antimicrobial resistance of these bacteria among healthy dogs in Tanzania.
Results: Based on cultures of mouth and perineal swabs, 11.3% and 50.3% of 151 healthy dogs were carriers of <i>S. aureus</i> and <i>S. pseudintermedius</i>, respectively. Only four dogs (3%) carried meticillin-resistant <i>S. aureus</i> (MRSA), while none of the <i>S. pseudintermedius</i> strains were meticillin-resistant. 12 of 19 <i>S. aureus</i> strains tested were resistant to penicillin G, and resistance to enrofloxacin and tetracycline was also commonly detected. The most common resistances in 103 <i>S. pseudintermedius</i> strains tested were to penicillin G (28.2%) and tetracycline (22.3%). <i>S. pseudintermedius</i> strains showed 65 different random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints, and <i>S. aureus</i> strains belonged to eight different spa types, including two novel types (t18988 and t18989). MRSA strains carried SCCmec type V.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Healthy dogs in Tanzania were carriers of MRSA at low frequency, and half of the dogs carried <i>S. pseudintermedius</i> with high strain diversity.
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