Members of the genus Kocuria are commonly found in the environment and they are also commensals of the mammalian skin and oropharynx mucosa. Human infections, although rare, are increasingly being reported recently suggesting that this genus has mostly been overlooked or misidentified. Its transmission route however, is still not known. We report here the isolation and identification of a Kocuria marina isolate from the lung of a wild urban rat (Rattus rattus diardii) caught at a wet market. The isolate was susceptible to most of the commonly used antibiotics. The finding suggests a possibility that rats could be a vector for K. marina.

The ability to acquire antibiotic resistance and virulence has propelled Enterococcus faecalis to become a major nosocomial pathogen. In Malaysia, data on the antibiotic resistance determinants and virulence of Enterococcus circulating strains are still scarce. This study aimed to assess the genotype of an E. faecalis isolate initially identified as Streptococcus uberis, examine the antibiotic resistance genotypes, analyze the genetic variations within Tn1546 and investigate the presence of virulence genes. The E. faecalis isolate was genetically characterized using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Minimum inhibitory concentrations to vancomycin and teicoplanin were determined. Antibiotic resistance and other virulence genes were amplified using nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction. Mapping of the Tn1546 transposon was performed and compared to the prototype sequences. The E. faecalis isolate was found to have a MLST profile corresponding to sequence type 6. The isolate was resistant to teicoplanin but susceptible to vancomycin. Its genome consisted the vanA and vanC1 genes. Novel genetic variations in the vanS, vanS-vanH intergenic region and vanY genes were present and six virulence genes were detected. The detection of the vanC1 gene, thought to be non-transferable, suggests the potential emergence of inter-species enterococcal vanC1 gene transfer. The peculiar antibiotics resistance phenotype of this E. faecalis isolate could be associated to the novel genetic variations found. This study highlights the presence of E. faecalis belonging to the high-risk clonal complex with multiple virulence factors in Malaysia.

Motile enterococci such as Enterococcus gallinarum has the ability to acquire and transfer antibiotic resistance genes to other enterococci. Even though infections caused by E. gallinarum are rare, the discovery of this bacteria in food sources and in clinical environments is disturbing. Here, we report the isolation and identification of E. gallinarum from the wound of a hospital in-patient. The isolate was identified using 16S rDNA sequencing. Isolate 146 harboured the vanA and vanC1 gene clusters, was vancomycin-susceptible, and displayed resistance to ampicillin, penicillin, erythromycin and teicoplanin. This isolate also showed intermediate resistance to linezolid and sequencing of the 23S rRNA peptidyl transferase region did not unveil any known mutations associated to the conferment of linezolid resistance. The presence of vanA did not confer resistance to vancomycin. Structural analyses into the Tn1546 transposon carrying the vanA gene revealed distinct genetic variations in the vanS, vanY and vanS-vanH intergenic region that could be associated to the atypical antibiotic resistance phenotypes of isolate 146. Finding from this study are suggestive of the occurrence of interspecies horizontal gene transfer and that similarities in genotypic characteristic may not necessarily correlate with actual antibiotic resistance pattern of E. gallinarum.

The present study aimed at exploring whether sunlight exposure might account for the relative difference in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality between tropical and non-tropical countries. A retrospective observational study was designed and data from the World Health Organization weekly COVID-19 epidemiological update was compiled. We examined the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population, as well as the total number of COVID-19-related mortalities per 100 000 population. Solar variables data were obtained from the Global Solar Atlas website (https://globalsolaratlas.info/). These data were analyzed to determine the association of sunlight exposure to COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in tropical and non-tropical countries. Results revealed a statistically significant decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population (P<0.001), as well as the number of COVID-19-related mortalities per 100 000 population (P<0.001) between tropical and non-tropical countries. Analyses of sunlight exposure data found that specific photovoltaic power output, global horizontal irradiation, diffuse horizontal irradiation and global tilted irradiation at optimum angle were significantly inversely correlated to COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. This suggests that stronger sunlight exposure potentially leads to lower COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. Findings from this study suggest that the relatively low COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in tropical countries were possibly due to better sunlight exposure that translates into adequate vitamin D status.

Ticks are vectors of bacteria, protozoa and viruses capable of causing serious and life threatening diseases in humans and animals. Disease transmission occurs through the transfer of pathogen from tick bites to susceptible humans or animals. Most commonly known tick-borne pathogens are obligate intracellular microorganisms but little is known on the prevalence of culturable pathogenic bacteria from ticks capable of growth on artificial nutrient media. One hundred and forty seven ticks originating from dairy cattle, goats and rodents were collected from nine selected sites in Peninsular Malaysia. The culture of surfacesterilized tick homogenates revealed the isolation of various pathogenic bacteria including, Staphylococcus sp., Corynebacterium sp., Rothia sp., Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Bacillus sp. and its derived genera. These pathogens are among those that affect humans and animals. Findings from this study suggest that in addition to the regular intracellular pathogens, ticks could also harbor extracellular pathogenic bacteria. Further studies, hence, would be needed to determine if these extracellular pathogens could contribute to human or animal infection.