Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are often associated with bovine mastitis. Knowledge about the relative importance of specific CNS species in different types of mastitis, and differences in antimicrobial resistance among CNS species is, however, scarce. Therefore, the aims of this study were to compare prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of CNS species in clinical and subclinical mastitis using material from two national surveys. Overall, Staphylococcus chromogenes and Staphylococcus epidermidis were the most common CNS species found followed by Staphylococcus simulans and Staphylococcus haemolyticus. S. epidermidis was significantly more prevalent in subclinical than in clinical mastitis, and a similar trend was observed for Staphylococcus saprophyticus, while Staphylococcus hyicus was significantly more common in clinical mastitis. The prevalence of β-lactamase producing isolates varied markedly between CNS species, and was significantly higher in S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus (∼ 40%), than in S. simulans and S. chromogenes where none or a few of the isolates produced β-lactamase. Resistance to more than one antimicrobial substance occurred in 9% and 7% of the clinical and subclinical isolates, respectively. In conclusion, the distribution of CNS species differed between clinical and subclinical mastitis indicating inter-species variation of pathogenicity and epidemiology. Overall, the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was low, but some variation between CNS species was observed.
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