Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from fitness centers in the Memphis metropolitan area, Tennessee.

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 multidrug-resistant (MDR) MRSA of clonal complex 59 lineage harboring a variety of extracellular toxin genes from surface swab samples collected from inanimate surfaces of fitness centers in the Memphis metropolitan area, Tennessee. Our findings underscore the role of inanimate surfaces as potential sources of transmission of MDR MRSA strains with considerable genetic diversity.