Coagulase-Positive Staphylococci Isolated from Chicken Meat: Pathogenic Potential and Vancomycin Resistance

Coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) cause staphylococcal food poisoning. Recently, these bacteria have received increasing attention due to their potential role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance markers. The present study aimed to evaluate coagulase-positive staphylococci counts, species distribution, enterotoxin genes prevalence, and the antibiotic resistance profile of CPS isolated from in natura chicken meat. Fifteen frozen and 15 chilled industrialized, uncooked chicken parts or entire carcasses were used. Staphylococcal counts revealed that frozen chicken meat samples displayed the lowest CPS count compared with chilled chicken meat samples (p < 0.01). Staphylococcus aureus (62%) was the most common species, followed by S. intermedius, S. delphini, and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans (10% each) and S. hyicus (8%). The polymerase chain reaction identification of sea, seb, sec, sed, and see genes revealed that 70% of the isolates harbored at least one enterotoxin gene, with sea and sed being the most frequently encountered ones. Two of the 50 investigated strains harbored three different enterotoxin genes. A high frequency of isolates resistant to penicillin, teicoplanin, oxacillin, and clindamycin was observed, and 80% of CPS were found to be resistant to at least one of the 11 tested antimicrobials. Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus and S. intermedius showed minimum inhibitory concentrations of 512 and 64 mu g/mL, respectively. These isolates might indicate the dissemination of vancomycin resistance in the community and imply food safety hazards.