Prevalence of Staphylococci in commercially processed food products in Karachi-Pakistan

Abstract

Objectives: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of Staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in commercially prepared food items that involve human handling, in Karachi-Pakistan. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey approach, in total 1012 food samples were analyzed. These samples were provided by different food processing industries during 2013 to 2016. Barid-Parker agar plates with egg yolk tellurite (Oxoid) along with Mannitol Salt Agar (BioM), Staph-chromo agar (Merck), Staphylococcus 110 Agar (BioM), and Blood Agar (Oxoid) were used for isolation and identification of Staphylococci. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for amplification of mecA gene and specie identification via 16s RNA. Results: Total 723 samples (71.4%) showed the presence of Staphylococci. Out of 723 staphylococcal isolates, 367 (36.2%) were S. aureus and 85 (8.3%) isolates were confirmed as MRSA. Molecular studies for MRSA typing showed that most of the isolates (74.1%) belong to SCCmecA IV and 20% MRSA isolates were SCCmecA type II and 5.8% isolates carried SCCmecA type III. The MRSA isolates of SCCmecA type II belong to agr type I, while majority (67%) of the isolates carry agr type II. Conclusion: This study suggested that majority of MRSA isolates recovered from commercial food items belongs to SCCmecA IV and human handling is a major factor for introduction of staphylococci in processed food items. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2017; 7(2): 83-87 

Keywords

• Staphylococci,S. aureus,Methicillin Resistant S. aureus

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