About the Authors

Birgit Walther

walther.birgit@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Julia Hermes

Affiliation Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Christiane Cuny

Affiliation National Reference Centre for Staphylococci, Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, Germany

Lothar H. Wieler

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Szilvia Vincze

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Yassmin Abou Elnaga

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Ivonne Stamm

Affiliation Vet Med Labor GmbH, Division of IDEXX Laboratories, Ludwigsburg, Germany

Peter A. Kopp

Affiliation Vet Med Labor GmbH, Division of IDEXX Laboratories, Ludwigsburg, Germany

Barbara Kohn

Affiliation Clinic of Small Animals, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Wolfgang Witte

Affiliation National Reference Centre for Staphylococci, Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, Germany

Andreas Jansen

Affiliation Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Franz J. Conraths

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Wusterhausen, Germany

Torsten Semmler

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Tim Eckmanns

Affiliation Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Antina Lübke-Becker

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Veterinary Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Competing Interests

Dr. Stamm and Dr. Kopp are employees of IDEXX Vet Med Labor GmbH (Ludwigsburg). While these authors are company employees, this does not alter their adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BW BK FJC TE LHW ALB. Performed the experiments: BW AJ FJC CC ALB SV YAE IS PAK. Analyzed the data: BW JH CC WW FJC TS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: BW JH CC WW TS IS PAK. Wrote the paper: BW JH ALB FJC BK IS LHW.