Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci Recovered from Public Shared Bicycles in China

Millions of public shared bicycles (PSBs) have been launched in China, and PSBs are a potential reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant staphylococci. However, no national data to elucidate the dissemination, antimicrobial resistance and genotypes of staphylococci has been recovered from public shared bicycles located in different cities in China. Antimicrobial susceptibility, SCC mec types and sequence types of staphylococci were determined. A total of 146 staphylococci were recovered in this study, and 87% staphylococcal isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic. In total, 29 (20%) staphylococcal isolates harbored mecA gene, and SCC mec types were determined as follows: SCC mec type II ( n = 1), IV( n = 3), V ( n = 4), VI ( n = 1), VIII ( n = 2), A/1 ( n = 6), A/5 ( n = 2), C/1 ( n = 2), C/2 ( n = 1), C/3 ( n = 1), ( n = 5) and Pseudo (ψ)-SCC mec ( n = 1). Sequence types of 16 Staphylococcus epidermidis were determined, including ST10, ST17, ST59, ST60, ST65, ST130, ST184, ST262, ST283, ST337, ST360, ST454, ST567, ST820, ST878 and ST934. PSBs are a reservoir of diverse antimicrobial-resistant staphylococci, and staphylococcal species differences were observed in isolates that were recovered from public shared bicycles in the south and north of China. PSBs are a source of antimicrobial resistance and genetic diverse staphylococci.