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•We studied the presence of mastitis-associated bovine Staphylococcus aureusin Rwanda.•Two clonal lineages, CC3666 and CC3591, have an important role in cattle health and dairy production in Rwanda.•The dominance of CC97 underlines the widespread global distribution of this cattle-adapted clonal lineage.•The occurrence of human-associated CC152 suggests interspecies transmission.

•We determined the MICs of the novel cephalosporin compound ceftaroline against a collection of MRSA harbouring mecC/SCCmecXI.•Isolates were found to be susceptible to ceftaroline.

•We characterised 30 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) isolates collected in Ghana between 2010 and 2013 from patients and healthy carriers.•DNA microarray analysis revealed that tet(M), tet(K), aphA3and aacA–aphDwere the common resistant genes associated with these MRSA isolates.•Whereas no resistance to glycopeptides, linezolid, daptomycin and tigecycline was detected, resistance to tetracycline, norfloxacin, moxifloxacin, erythromycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, kanamycin and ceftaroline was frequent among the isolates.•USA300 [containing arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) and Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL)] was among the multidrug-resistant MRSA detected in Ghana.