title: Molecular Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Retail Chicken.
abstract: The emergence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in food-producing animals is of increasing interest, raising questions about the presence of MRSA in food of animal origin and potential sources of transmission to humans via the food chain. In this study, the prevalence, molecular characterization, virulence factors, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of MRSA isolates from 200 retail raw chicken samples in Egypt were determined. MRSA was detected by positive amplification of the mecA gene in 38% (76 of 200) of chicken samples analyzed. This represents a potential public health threat in Egypt, as this contamination rate seems to be the highest among other studies reported worldwide. Furthermore, genes encoding α-hemolysin (hla) and staphylococcal enterotoxins (sea, seb, and sec) were detected in all of the 288 MRSA isolates. Nonetheless, none of the strains tested carried tst, the gene encoding toxic shock syndrome toxin 1. Antimicrobial resistance of MRSA isolates was most frequently detected against penicillin (93.4%), ampicillin (88.9%), and cloxacillin (83.3%). These results suggest that retail chicken might be a significant potential source for transmission of multidrug-resistant and toxigenic S. aureus in Egypt. This underlines the need for stricter hygienic measures in chicken production in Egypt to minimize the risk of transmission of these strains to consumers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the isolation and molecular characterization of MRSA in retail chicken samples in Egypt.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt. khsallam@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Khalid Ibrahim
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Sallam
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
authors.forename: Samir Mohammed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Abd-Elghany
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Mycology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elhadidy
authors.affiliation: Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-17-2-1 Tsukisamu-Higashi, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo 062-8517, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004534:Egypt; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018089:Superantigens / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004768:Enterotoxins; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins; D018089:Superantigens; C030107:enterotoxin F, Staphylococcal; C487789:mecA protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D008712:Methicillin