Abstract
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, opportunistic pathogen, has protruded as a significant health threat in humans following being zoologically transmitted to humans. This pathogen is reported to cause inflammatory lesions in different sites of human body. Therefore, this study is aimed to identify and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of S. pseudintermedius strains isolated from otitis human patients. A total of 84 otitis samples were obtained from ENT clinics in Wasit province, Iraq; and bacteriological identification of Staphylococcus species was performed. Identification of S. pseudintermedius was evaluated by biochemical tests, API staph, the Vitek®2 compact and detection of some genes. In general, out of 84 samples, 63 samples (75%) were positive for Staphylococcus species. Among these 63 positive Staphylococcus spp. isolates, only 13 isolates (20.6%) were initially identified as S. pseudintermedius. All isolates of S. pseudintermedius were identified as methicillinâ€�resistant strains (MRSP) using cefoxitin disc diffusion method. Indeed, MRSP isolates showed high resistance to penicillin (100%), chloramphenicol (100%), erythromycin (100%), and tetracycline (100%). However, the MRSP showed low resistance to gentamicin (23.07 %) and Ciprofloxacin (38.46%). Genetically, all isolates of S. pseudintermedius were carry the Staphylococcal Chromosomal Cassette (SCC) element that was concluded by existence of a mecA gene. The partial sequence of S. pseudintermedius strain SIG 16S ribosomal RNA gene has been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database under the GenBank accession no. MK968120.1.

Key words: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Pseudintermedius, Otitis, Antibiotic resistance, mecA Gene