The aim of our study is therefore to evaluate the emergence of CC152 MRSA PVL+ clone in the community and to understand its evolution in France.

We have collected 86 strains of S. aureus at the National Reference Center for Staphylococci in France, as well as demographic, clinical and antimicrobial susceptibility informations. We performed whole-genome sequencing on these 86 CC152 isolates, which complements the data from the first European CC152 sequencing study (Sharmin Baig et al. 2020) in which a majority of strains were carriers of type V (5C2&5) SCCmec. The specificity of our cohort lies in the fact that the recently described SCCmec XIII (9A) is associated with a majority of MRSA clones. Indeed, analysis of phylogenetic data allowed to observe several emerging community clades in France. We identified two CC152 MRSA SCCmec XIII (9A) clades isolated for the first time in 2018. Interestingly, however, there is no previous report of clonal lineages (nor their dissemination) of clones associated with this element has never been reported in the literature. These strains are resistant to aminoglycosides and some of them are also resistant to cyclins and the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. MRSA is a current public health concern worldwide and given the high diffusion capacity of PVL+ strains, surveillance and prevention of these strains is essential. Reinforced surveillance is necessary to determine whether the CC152 MRSA-XIII lineage will spread further in France but also in Europe.