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Spread of the FAR-MRSA clone, a fusidic acid- and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST121, Europe, 2014 to 2024
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Louise Roer1
, Nicolas Yin2
, Olivier Denis2 , Karuna EW Vendrik3
, Romy D Zwittink3
, Daan W Notermans3
, Monique Perrin4 , Kirstin Khonyongwa4 , Anne Tristan5
, Benjamin Youenou5
, Franziska Layer-Nicolaou6
, Guido Werner6
, Hege Enger7
, Emily Charlotte Henry Eikrem7
, Jessica Darenberg8
, Barbro Mäkitalo8
, Magnus Paulsson9
, Jonas Björkman10
, Hong Fang11
, Erika Tång Hallbäck12
, Martin Sundqvist13 , Laura Lindholm14
, Kartyk Moganeradj15
, Silvia García-Cobos16
, Javier E Cañada-García16
, Barbara Juliane Holzknecht1,17,18
, Helle Brander Eriksen17
, Morten Hoppe17
, Mette Damkjær Bartels18,19
, Jose Alfredo Samaniego Castruita19
, Tinna Ravnholt Urth1 , Anders Rhod Larsen1,*
, Andreas Petersen1,*
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark 2 National reference centre for Staphylococcus aureus and other species, Department of microbiology, Laboratoire Hospitalier Universitaire de Bruxelles – Universitair Laboratorium Brussel (LHUB-ULB), Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium 3 National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands 4 Laboratoire National de Sante, Dudelange, Luxembourg 5 Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France 6 Division Nosocomial Pathogens and Antibiotic Resistances, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Reference Centre for Staphylococci and Enterococci, Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, Wernigerode, Germany 7 The Norwegian MRSA Reference Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway 8 The Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden 9 Medical faculty, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 10 Region Skåne, Lund, Sweden 11 Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden 12 Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 13 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden 14 Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland 15 UK Health Security Agency, Colindale, England 16 Laboratorio de Referencia e Investigación en Resistencia a Antibióticos e Infecciones Relacionadas con la Asistencia Sanitaria, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain 17 Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, Herlev, Denmark 18 Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark 19 Copenhagen University Hospital – Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark * These authors contributed equally to this work and share last authorship.Andreas Petersenaap ssi.dk
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View Citation Hide Citation
Citation style for this article: Roer Louise, Yin Nicolas, Denis Olivier, Vendrik Karuna EW, Zwittink Romy D, Notermans Daan W, Perrin Monique, Khonyongwa Kirstin, Tristan Anne, Youenou Benjamin, Layer-Nicolaou Franziska, Werner Guido, Enger Hege, Eikrem Emily Charlotte Henry, Darenberg Jessica, Mäkitalo Barbro, Paulsson Magnus, Björkman Jonas, Fang Hong, Hallbäck Erika Tång, Sundqvist Martin, Lindholm Laura, Moganeradj Kartyk, García-Cobos Silvia, Cañada-García Javier E, Holzknecht Barbara Juliane, Eriksen Helle Brander, Hoppe Morten, Bartels Mette Damkjær, Samaniego Castruita Jose Alfredo, Urth Tinna Ravnholt, Larsen Anders Rhod, Petersen Andreas. Spread of the FAR-MRSA clone, a fusidic acid- and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST121, Europe, 2014 to 2024. Euro Surveill. 2025;30(28):pii=2500452. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.28.2500452 Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025
Abstract
We describe the genetic characteristics of a fusidic acid- and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone widespread in Europe, based on whole genome sequences from 317 isolates. The clone is causing impetigo and other skin and soft tissue infections, primarily in young children. Comparison with publicly available S. aureus ST121 sequences showed that the clone is clearly distinct from previously described ST121 clones. European and other international readers should be aware of the emergence of this community-acquired MRSA clone.

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