Characteristics of strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated at dairy farms.
Biochemical characteristics of 432 strains of S. aureus with special regard to those relevant to identification and estimation of enterotoxigenicity were examined. The STAPHYtest identified reliably 100, 100, 99 and 94% of strains isolated from milking machines, human carriers and bulk milk and quarter milk samples, respectively. Enterotoxins were produced by 9 strains from human carriers and only by 2, 1 and 1 strains isolated from bulk milk, milking machine and a quarter milk sample, respectively. 7, 4, 1 and 1 strains produced enterotoxins C, A, B and A + B, respectively. Enterotoxigenicity correlated well with the following characteristics: pigment production, presence of the clumping factor, coagulation of rabbit plasma, haemolysis of sheep erythrocytes, positivity in the STAPHYtest, fermentation of mannitol, strong haemolysis of bovine blood and strong thermonuclease activity. A simple three-step scheme for the examination of S. aureus isolates has been devised.
Růzicková
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Veterinary Research Institute, Brno.
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003612:Dairying; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*