Multidrug-resistant and virulent Streptococcus suis strains detected in clinically healthy pigs in Guangdong and Guangxi, China
Veterinary Research·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s13567-026-01832-9
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- —
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The authors frame the combination of pathogenicity, multidrug resistance, and horizontal gene transfer potential via ICEs and prophages as a serious public health risk from healthy pig-derived S. suis, calling for enhanced surveillance.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study examined the prevalence, genetic diversity, virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and mobile genetic elements of S. suis isolates recovered from clinically healthy pigs in two Chinese provinces.
Study design
A cross-sectional laboratory investigation of 315 S. suis isolates from clinically healthy pigs (2024–2025), incorporating capsular typing, multilocus sequence typing, minimum core genome assignment, animal infection models, cell-based cytotoxicity assays, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and genomic analysis of integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) and prophages.
Population and setting
Clinically healthy pigs sampled in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, China, between 2024 and 2025, as the source of 315 S. suis isolates.
Main findings
Isolates spanned 34 capsular types (40.63% linked to human-infection-associated cps types), 80 sequence types, 13 clonal complexes, and five minimum core genomes. A considerable proportion showed high virulence in zebrafish and mouse models, and isolates in CC1, CC7, CC17, CC94, and CC108 produced significant cytotoxicity in A549 and hBMEC cells. Overall, 96.82% of isolates were multidrug-resistant and 29.84% were resistant to penicillin. ICEs in highly virulent healthy-pig strains were highly similar to those in human-derived S. suis and human-derived S. agalactiae.
Public-health relevance
The authors frame the combination of pathogenicity, multidrug resistance, and horizontal gene transfer potential via ICEs and prophages as a serious public health risk from healthy pig-derived S. suis, calling for enhanced surveillance.
Important limitations
The supplied abstract does not state explicit limitations. Accordingly, this summary is limited to the single-article abstract and metadata supplied; decision-grade interpretation requires review of the original paper.
GIDS interpretation
Within the GIDS knowledge graph, this article is discoverable as a Chinese regional surveillance study on S. suis antimicrobial resistance and One Health, linking disease, geography, and surveillance topics, but no live surveillance signal is confirmed by the supplied metadata.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 7 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.