Global phylogenomics of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 772: the Bengal Bay clone

The global spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been well documented in Gram-negative bacteria and healthcare-associated epidemic pathogens, with emergence often from regions with high levels of antimicrobial use and lack of effective stewardship. However, the degree to which similar processes occur with Gram-positive bacteria in the community setting, such as with community-associated (CA-) MRSA, is less well understood. Given the heavy burden and costs associated with MRSA infections, there is an urgent need to elucidate the patterns and drivers of the spread of novel virulent and multidrug-resistant MRSA clones. Here, we present whole-genome sequence data of 340 sequence type (ST) 772 S. aureus isolates, also known as the Bengal Bay clone. The collection encompasses the global distribution of a…