Frontiers in Microbiology (Jun 2021)

Molecular Characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus From Food Samples and Food Poisoning Outbreaks in Shijiazhuang, China

  • Guoping Lv,
  • Ruiping Jiang,
  • Han Zhang,
  • Lei Wang,
  • Lijie Li,
  • Weili Gao,
  • Hong Zhang,
  • Yantao Pei,
  • Xiuping Wei,
  • Hongyan Dong,
  • Liyun Qin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.652276
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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As an opportunistic pathogen worldwide, Staphylococcus aureus can cause food poisoning and human infections. This study investigated the sequence typing, the penicillin (blaZ) and methicillin (mec) resistance profiles of S. aureus from food samples and food poisoning outbreaks in Shijiazhuang City, and the staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) types of the S. aureus isolates from food poisoning. A total of 138 foodborne S. aureus isolates were distributed into 8 clonal complexes (CCs) and 12 singletons. CC1, CC5, CC8, CC15, CC97, CC59, CC398, CC88, and CC7 were the predominant CCs of foodborne S. aureus isolates. Moreover, CC59, CC15, and CC5 were the most prevalent CCs in food poisoning outbreaks. SEE was the most commonly detected SE in food poisoning isolates. One hundred thirty-three S. aureus isolates harbored the penicillin-resistant gene blaZ, and nine isolates carried the mec gene. The present study further explained the relationship between S. aureus and foods and food poisoning and indicated the potential risk of S. aureus infection.

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