Unusual recovery of animal staphylococci from septic wounds of hospital patients in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Two Staphylococcus species--Staphylococcus gallinarum and Staphylococcus sciuri--previously known to be of animal origin have been isolated from infected wounds of hospital patients in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. These organisms were non-typable at both RTD and 100 x RTD and did not produce beta-lactamase detectable by the normal methods. Their actual involvement in the infection is not immediately clear, but their resistance to most common antibiotics, in addition to the production of DNase and phosphatase, may be indicating that these species could become important skin contaminants in humans and opportunistic zoonotics.