quick q: is s. aureus found in animals too?

[chef]

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forgot if s.aureus only lives in humans or also in animals.. tia

 

[dvm n 06]

S. aureus is also found in animals.

 

[ckent]

I doubt that you will ever find a bacteria that only lives in humans. It wouldn't make very much biological sense, most bacteria are able to live fine outside of organisms. Even for viruses, I believe that small pox and polio are the only known viruses that only infect humans. Common viruses like influenza, rhinovirus, SARS, and adenovirus all infect other mammals. Even though I'm sure that staph commonly causes infections in animals, I imagine that you would be hard pressed to find a strain of methicillin resistant staph aureus in any other mammal besides man (unless that animal was sharing needles with an IVDA). Anyways, good to have people interested/in vet medicine to field this question.

 

[nickdv]

I agree with Ckent. Staph aren't all that fastidious, so you will probably find most of the same Staph in humans and other mammals, though they may have somewhat different effects. As far as the methicillin resistance, that might be debatable. Since some animals are commonly in contact with humans (read dogs), I think there is some chance for MRSA to jump from humans to other animals. However, I wouldn't bet on it being a common occurence.

 

[chef]

ckent, isnt' shigella and salmonella typhi only found in humans ever?

Originally posted by ckent
I doubt that you will ever find a bacteria that only lives in humans. It wouldn't make very much biological sense, most bacteria are able to live fine outside of organisms. Even for viruses, I believe that small pox and polio are the only known viruses that only infect humans. Common viruses like influenza, rhinovirus, SARS, and adenovirus all infect other mammals. Even though I'm sure that staph commonly causes infections in animals, I imagine that you would be hard pressed to find a strain of methicillin resistant staph aureus in any other mammal besides man (unless that animal was sharing needles with an IVDA). Anyways, good to have people interested/in vet medicine to field this question.

 

[ckent]

Originally posted by chef
ckent, isnt' shigella and salmonella typhi only found in humans ever?

For Salmonella:
Their principle reservoir are poutry, livestock, and reptiles. An exception is Salmonella typhi, which is only thought to infect humans. fecal to oral.

For Shigella:
Humans are their only natural reservoir, fecal to oral transmission.

However, even for those organisms whose only natural reservoir is in humans, it should be noted that they are found in the natural environment as well. My micro professor explained it like this: A bacteria's goal is to grow as much as it can, and there's only so much growth that one host can provide. So bacteria who act as pathogens towards humans frequently do so for purposes of transmitting themselves around. They might grow in the gut, but then they purposely cause diarrhea so that they can be expelled and find other places to grow and other organisms to infect. Hence, you may find shigella and salmonella in contaminated water, foods, etc.