Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance and Toxin Production Capabilities among S. aureus Isolates Recovered from Food Samples

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a prevalent contributor to foodborne illnesses as a result of its capacity to create a variety of heat-stable enterotoxins. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of S. aureus isolates that are both multiple antibiotic-resistant and toxin-producing in beef and chicken meat samples obtained from various restaurants in Egypt between January 2021 and March 2023. Seventy-four percent of S. aureus isolates were recovered from chicken meat, whereas 26% were obtained from beef meat. The antibiotic susceptibility testing for S. aureus isolates revealed that they were highly resistant to cefoxitin (86%) and penicillin (100%) but had low resistance to doxycycline (8%), moxifloxacin (4%), and norfloxacin (2%). When S. aureus isolates were genetically investigated to detect several enterotoxin-encoding genes, the SEB gene was detected in 26% of them. In comparison, none of the isolates possessed any of the other analyzed enterotoxin genes. Finally, the influence of various meal types on the expression of the SEB was assessed using the real-time PCR method. The findings highlighted that meat was the most influential factor in SEB gene expression, followed by milk and then, coshary (an Egyptian carbohydrate-based cuisine). To sum up, enterotoxins production and microbial resistance could contribute to the widespread of S. aureus infections, creating a risk to public health. Thus, stringent hygienic procedures must be taken to prevent or mitigate food contamination and subsequently food intoxication by S. aureus. These methods require quality control of raw materials, adequate handling, Personal hands sanitization, environmental hygiene and equipment disinfection.