TY - JOUR T1 - Characterization of Methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> Isolates from Fitness Centers in Memphis Metropolitan Area, USA JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/061044 SP - 061044 AU - Nabanita Mukherjee AU - Irshad M. Sulaiman AU - Pratik Banerjee Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/29/061044.abstract N2 - Indoor skin-contact surfaces of public fitness centers may serve as reservoirs of potential human transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We found a high prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR)-MRSA of CC59 lineage harboring a variety of extracellular toxin genes from surface swab samples collected from inanimate surfaces of fitness centers in Memphis metropolitan area, USA. Our findings underscore the role of inanimate surfaces as potential sources of transmission of MDR-MRSA strains with considerable genetic diversity. ER -