Comparison of antibiogram, staphylococcal enterotoxin productivity, and coagulase genotypes among Staphylococcus aureus isolated from animal and vegetable sources in Korea.
Staphylococcal food poisoning is caused by enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus. We investigated the prevalence of such organisms in samples of bovine mastitic milk (n = 714), raw meat (n = 139), and vegetables (n = 616). We determined the degrees of relatedness of isolates as indicated by antibiogram, staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) productivity, and coagulase gene restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. We examined 297 S. aureus isolates and found SE production in 57 (31.8%), 4 (7.8%), and 49 (73.1%) isolates from raw milk, raw meat, and vegetables, respectively. A high proportion of the isolates obtained from milk produced more than two types of toxins (mainly SEA, SEB, and/or SEC), whereas isolates from raw meat and vegetables primarily produced SEA alone. Most isolates were sensitive to cephalothin (97.6%), gentamicin (80.8%), erythromycin (79.5%), and tetracycline (72.7%), but were resistant to penicillin (90.2%) and ampicillin (88.9%). The proportion of antibiotic-resistant isolates differed according the source of the bacteria; the milk and vegetable isolates were more resistant to penicillin and ampicillin than were the meat isolates (P < 0.05), whereas tetracycline resistance was limited to the milk and vegetables isolates. The coagulase genotypes (I to XII) varied with the source of the organism, and only a few genotypes prevailed in each source: II (42.4%) and IV (24%) types in isolates from milk, IX (35.3%) and XI (45%) from raw meat, and III (40.3%) and XII (32.8%) from vegetables. These findings suggest that remarkable differences exist in antibiogram, SE productivity, and coagulase genotypes, resulting in limited clonal transmission of S. aureus into various food sources. As enterotoxin production only occurs when S. aureus grows to high numbers, staphylococcal food poisoning can be prevented by proper refrigeration.
Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Jin San
JS
Moon
Ae Ri
AR
Lee
Seung Hyeup
SH
Jaw
Hyun Mi
HM
Kang
Yi Seok
YS
Joo
Yong Ho
YH
Park
Mal Nam
MN
Kim
Hye Cheong
HC
Koo
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002417:Cattle; D003030:Coagulase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012034:Refrigeration; D013202:Staphylococcal Food Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003030:Coagulase; D004768:Enterotoxins