title: Prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular typing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in bulk tank milk from southern Italy.
abstract: This paper assesses the prevalence of MRSA in bulk tank milk (BTM) samples from southern Italy, and the relationship between the Coagulase Positive Staphylococci count (CPS) and MRSA prevalence. Of 486 BTM samples tested, 12 samples (2.5%) resulted positive for the presence of MRSA. Great genetic diversity was found among the isolates: ST1/t127 and t174/IVa, ST5/t688/V, ST8/t unknown/IVa/V, ST45/t015/IVa, ST71/t524/V, ST88/t786/Iva, ST398/t011 and t899/IVa/V and ST2781/t1730/V. All isolates were pvl-negative and icaA positive. The majority of strains (58%) carried the ses (sec, seh, seg, seo, sem and sen) genes. All tested strains resulted susceptible to amikacin, cephalotin, cloramphenicol, gentamycin, trimethoprim - sulfamethoxazole, tobramycin and vancomycin, and variably resistant to ampicillin, oxacillin and tetracycline. No statistical association between the CPS count and MRSA detection was found in the MRSA-positive samples. Although some of the spa-types and STs detected in our survey are known to cause human infections, raw milk from Italian herds in the considered area is not a common source of MRSA. Nonetheless, it is necessary to assess the risk of foodborne infection and the risk related to the handling of milk.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.affiliation: Department of Science of Agriculture, Food and the Environment (SAFE), University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy. Electronic address: giovanni.normanno@unifg.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Normanno
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sottili
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miccolupo
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fraccalvieri
authors.affiliation: Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Apulia and Basilicata, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santagada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008712:Methicillin
keywords: Food safety; Foodborne risk; MRSA; Milk; Professional risk