Biology & Ecology
Biology
Gram Statusgram-positive
Oxygen Tolerancefacultative anaerobe
Morphologycoccus
Key Traits
- catalase-positive
- coagulase-positive
- non-motile
- non-spore-forming
Ecology
Reservoiranimal, human
Transmission
- fecal-oral
- healthcare-associated
Clinical Profile
Pathobiont
yes
no
context dependent
unknown
Clinical Rolesprimary pathogen
Typical Specimenblood; stool
Bloom Triggers
D00929
antibiotic exposure
Risk Contextsbacteremia; ICU / critical care
AMR Highlights
3004306
MRSA
Clinical Associations:
E1
E3 — Strong human clinical evidence
E2 — Moderate human evidence
E1 — Limited / preliminary
Staphylococcus aureus disseminates from the bloodstream to the gastrointestinal tract following bacteremia and is shed in feces at high titres, establishing a reservoir for fecal-oral transmission in a murine intravenous infection model.
PMID:
25385792
E1
E3 — Strong human clinical evidence
E2 — Moderate human evidence
E1 — Limited / preliminary
Fecal-oral transmission of S. aureus from bacteremic donor mice to naive cage-mates requires intact agr quorum-sensing and sae two-component regulatory systems; agr+sae double-mutant strains show approximately 10³-fold reduction in transmission efficiency (n=6 recipient mice per group).
PMID:
25385792
E1
E3 — Strong human clinical evidence
E2 — Moderate human evidence
E1 — Limited / preliminary
In mixed MRSA/MSSA infections in oxacillin-treated mice, MRSA is selectively transmitted to antibiotic-naive recipient mice via the fecal-oral route, demonstrating that antibiotic exposure drives selective spread of resistant strains through the GI reservoir (n=6 recipients).
PMID:
25385792
Last reviewed: 2026-04-03
Evidence Timeline
Related Taxa
Shared Niche = same body site
Shared Risk = same vulnerable population
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