title: Prevalence, Molecular Characterization, and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Milk and Dairy Products.
abstract: The present work was undertaken to study the prevalence, molecular characterization, virulence factors, and antimicrobial susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in raw milk and dairy products in Mansoura City, Egypt. MRSA was detected in 53% (106/200) among all milk and dairy products with prevalence rates of 75%, 65%, 40%, 50%, and 35% in raw milk, Damietta cheese, Kareish cheese, ice cream, and yogurt samples, respectively. The mean S. aureus counts were 3.49, 3.71, 2.93, 3.40, and 3.23 log10 colony-forming units (CFU)/g among tested raw milk, Damietta cheese, Kareish cheese, ice cream and yogurt, respectively, with an overall count of 3.41 log10 CFU/g. Interestingly, all recovered S. aureus isolates were genetically verified as MRSA strains by molecular detection of the mecA gene. Furthermore, genes encoding α-hemolysin (hla) and staphylococcal enterotoxins (sea, seb, sec) were detected in all isolates. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of recovered MRSA isolates against 13 tested antimicrobials revealed that the least effective drugs were penicillin G, cloxacillin, tetracycline, and amoxicillin with bacterial resistance percentages of 87.9%, 75.9%, 65.2%, and 55.6%, respectively. These findings suggested that milk and dairy products represent a potential infection risk threat of multidrug-resistant and toxigenic S. aureus in Egypt due to neglected hygienic practices during production, retail, or storage stages. These findings highlighted the crucial importance of applying more restrictive hygienic measures in dairy production in Egypt for food safety.
authors.affiliation: 1 Departments of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University , Mansoura, Egypt .
authors.forename: Maha Abdou
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Ashmawy
authors.affiliation: 1 Departments of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University , Mansoura, Egypt .
authors.forename: Khalid Ibrahim
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Sallam
authors.affiliation: 1 Departments of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University , Mansoura, Egypt .
authors.forename: Samir Mohammed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Abd-Elghany
authors.affiliation: 2 Bacteriology, Mycology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University , Mansoura, Egypt .
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elhadidy
authors.affiliation: 3 Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Sapporo, Japan .
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000382:microbiology; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007054:Ice Cream / Q000469:parasitology; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D015014:Yogurt / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D004768:Enterotoxins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D008712:Methicillin