Displacement of Hospital-Acquired, Methicillin-Resistant Clones by Heterogeneous Community Strains in Kenya over a 13-Year Period.

We determined antibiotic susceptibility and employed Oxford Nanopore whole-genome sequencing to explore strain diversity, resistance, and virulence gene carriage among methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains from different infection sites and timepoints in a tertiary Kenyan hospital. Ninety-six nonduplicate clinical isolates recovered between 2010 and 2023, identified and tested for antibiotic susceptibility on the VITEK ID/AST platform, were sequenced. Molecular typing, antibiotic resistance, and virulence determinant screening were performed using the relevant bioinformatics tools.

SARS-CoV-2 Variants Genotyping and Diagnostic Performance of a 2-Genes Detection Assay.

Background: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the unprecedented expansion of molecular testing technologies. This study aimed at evaluating the performance of the FluoroType® SARS-CoV-2 plus assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection as well as describing the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants using the FluoroType® SARS-CoV-2 varID Q kit.

Methods: The study utilized 679 archived nasopharyngeal samples.

Farming Practice Influences Antimicrobial Resistance Burden of Non-Aureus Staphylococci in Pig Husbandries.

Non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) are ubiquitous bacteria in livestock-associated environments where they may act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes for pathogens such as . Here, we tested whether housing conditions in pig farms could influence the overall AMR-NAS burden. Two hundred and forty porcine commensal and environmental NAS isolates from three different farm types (conventional, alternative, and organic) were tested for phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility and subjected to whole genome sequencing.

Epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of staphylococci other than from domestic animals and livestock in Africa: a systematic review.

Introduction: Staphylococci other than Staphylococcus aureus (SOSA) in animals are becoming more pathogenic and antibiotic resistant and can potentially disseminate to humans. However, there is little synthesized information regarding SOSA from animals in Africa. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of the epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of SOSA in companion animals (pets) and livestock in Africa.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates from Kenya.

Background: The increase and spread of virulent-outbreak associated, methicillin and vancomycin resistant (MRSA/VRSA) Staphylococcus aureus require a better understanding of the resistance and virulence patterns of circulating and emerging strains globally. This study sought to establish the resistance phenotype, and strains of 32 non-duplicate clinical MRSA and MSSA S. aureus isolates from four Kenyan hospitals, identify their resistance and virulence genes and determine the genetic relationships of MRSA with global strains.

A six-member SNP assay on the iPlex MassARRAY platform provides a rapid and affordable alternative for typing major African types.

Purpose: Data on the clonal distribution of in Africa are scanty, partly due to the high costs and long turnaround times imposed by conventional genotyping methods such as and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), which means there is a need for alternative typing approaches. This study evaluated the discriminatory power, cost of and time required for genotyping Kenyan staphylococcal isolates using iPlex MassARRAY compared to conventional methods.

Methodology: Fifty-four clinical isolates from three counties were characterized using iPlex MassARRAY, and MLST typing methods.