Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the pathogenic potential of exfoliative toxin gene-positive Staphylococcus sciuri. Twenty eight eight weeks-old mice were used for the study. The animals were randomly assigned into four groups of 7 mice per group. Groups 1 and 2 were infected with 1 × 10⁸ colony-forming unit (cfu)/ml of the organism intraperitoneally (i.p) and subcutaneously (s.c) respectively, while groups 3 and 4 were inoculated with sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS) i.p and s.c, respectively. Groups 3 and 4 served as the controls. The mice were monitored daily for 15 days for skin lesions, morbidity and mortality, and rectal temperatures. The body weights of the individual mouse were also taken at two days interval. The mean values of rectal temperatures and body weights were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a value of p<0.05 was considered significant. The morbidity rates for groups 1 and 2 were 57 and 71%, respectively, while mortality rate for both groups was 11%. No mortality was recorded in groups 3 and 4. Skin lesions were recorded in all the mice in S. sciuri-infected groups, while no skin lesions were recorded in the control groups. Significant (p<0.05) increase in rectal temperatures were recorded in the infected groups compared to the control groups. The body weight significantly (p<0.05) reduced in infected groups against the controls. This study has shown that exfoliative toxin gene-containing S. sciuri is potentially pathogenic.

Key words: Staphylococcus sciuri, skin lesion, mortality.