Genomic epidemiology of mecC-carrying Staphylococcus aureus isolates from human clinical cases in New Zealand.

In 2011, a novel methicillin resistance gene, , was described in human and bovine isolates. positive is most commonly associated with livestock and wildlife populations across Europe and is particularly prevalent in hedgehogs, but only occasionally causes human infections. In this study, we characterize and investigate the origin of two human isolates containing genes from New Zealand.

Rapid identification and subsequent contextualization of an outbreak of methicillin-resistant in a neonatal intensive care unit using nanopore sequencing.

Outbreaks of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) are well described in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting. Genomics has revolutionized the investigation of such outbreaks; however, to date, this has largely been completed retrospectively and has typically relied on short-read platforms. In 2022, our laboratory established a prospective genomic surveillance system using Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing for rapid outbreak detection.