Prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence genes of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from pork meat in retail outlets in India

AbstractIsolation ofStaphylococcus  aureus was carried out in a total of 120 retail pork samples and the overall prevalence ofS. aureus in retail pork meat was 76.67%. All the isolates were resistant to both Ampicillin and Tetracycline (100%) followed by Cefoxitin, Oxacillin, Erythromycin, Amoxicillin, and Novobiocin. The multiple antibiotic resistance index of majority of the isolates were 0.3 and above. Methicillin resistance based on polymerase chain reaction revealed that 76.09% carried eithermecA ormecC. The prevalence of enterotoxigenicS. aureus in pork was 82.61% and of the various toxin genessei was the major gene followed byseg,seb,sej, sed, seh, sec, andsea in decreasing order. The prevalence of multidrug resistant and virulentS. aureus carrying enterotoxin genes in retail pork meat is a clear indication of the potential of these isolates in causing foodborne intoxication under favorable conditions to the consumers.Practical applicationStaphylococcus  aureus (S. aureus) is a well ‐known opportunistic pathogen widely present in a broad host range, including human beings and food producing animals, such as pigs, cows, goats and chickens. It has the potential to contaminate animal products and they gain entry in to the food chain, during processing, preparation and storage. T he wide use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi drug resistant strains, particularly Methicillin‐resistantS. aureus (MRSA). The present study highlights the prevalence, antimi...
Source: Journal of Food Safety - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research