Identification and in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus species isolated from goat mastitis in the Northeast of Brazil

Seventy strains of staphylococci isolated from goat clinical and subclinical mastitis in Brazilian dairy herds were submitted to identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Staphylococcus aureus represented 37% of the isolates from subclinical mastitis and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) 60%. Staphylococcus warneri, Staphylococcus caprae, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. ureolyticus, Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus simulans, Staphylococcus chromogenes and Staphylococcus saccharolyticus were the CNS species identified in decreasing order of occurrence. Penicillin G was the drug that demonstrated the highest in vitro resistance rates when tested against both S. aureus and CNS. The difference observed in the efficacy of the drugs tested shows the importance of carrying out the identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests of the mastitis agents. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.