Staphylococcus caprae is a Gram positive, coccus bacteria and a member of the genus Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria. Under the microscope they appear round , and form in grape-like clusters....

. S. caprae is coagulase

Coagulase

Coagulase is a protein produced by several microorganisms that enables the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin. In the laboratory, it is used to distinguish between different types of Staphylococcus isolates. Coagulase negativity excludes S. aureus. That is to say, S...

-negative. It was originally isolated from goats ("caprae" means "of a goat") but members of this species have also been isolated from human samples.

Clinical importance

S. caprae occurs as a commensal on human skin, but has also been implicated in infections of the bloodstream, urinary tract, bones and joints. Because S. caprae is difficult to identify definitively in the laboratory, it is likely that it occurs more often than the medical literature suggests.