<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> is an important foodborne pathogen due to toxin-related virulence, invasiveness and antibiotic resistance. The ability of <italic>S. aureus</italic> strains to produce one or more staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) in food has been associated with the occurrence of staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), which is the most common foodborne intoxication worldwide. The study aimed to determine the count of <italic>S. aureus</italic> strains in samples of raw cow’s milk and various cheeses produced in R. North Macedonia and to detect their ability to produce enterotoxins by passive agglutination SET RPLA (OXOID, UK) and by enzyme-linked fluorescence assay (ELFA) VIDAS SET 2 (Biomerieux, France). A total of 130 <italic>S. aureus</italic> strains were analyzed. The ability to produce SEs was determined in 17 (13.1%) strains using the SET RPLA detection kit and in 20 (15.4%) strains using the VIDAS SET 2. The study detected enterotoxigenic strains in cheese samples, despite the low count of <italic>S. aureus</italic> which was below the detection limit according to the Book of rules for microbiological criteria (Off. G. of R.M no 100/2013). Based on these and similar findings, <italic>S. aure</italic>us must be considered as a possible cause of intoxication, despite the undetected and underreported cases of SFP in the scientific literature.</p></abstract>

Staphylococcus aureus is an important foodborne pathogen due to toxin-related virulence, invasiveness and antibiotic resistance. The ability of S. aureus strains to produce one or more staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) in food has been associated with the occurrence of staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), which is the most common foodborne intoxication worldwide. The study aimed to determine the count of S. aureus strains in samples of raw cow’s milk and various cheeses produced in R. North Macedonia and to detect their ability to produce enterotoxins by passive agglutination SET RPLA (OXOID, UK) and by enzyme-linked fluorescence assay (ELFA) VIDAS SET 2 (Biomerieux, France). A total of 130 S. aureus strains were analyzed. The ability to produce SEs was determined in 17 (13.1%) strains using the SET RPLA detection kit and in 20 (15.4%) strains using the VIDAS SET 2. The study detected enterotoxigenic strains in cheese samples, despite the low count of S. aureus which was below the detection limit according to the Book of rules for microbiological criteria (Off. G. of R.M no 100/2013). Based on these and similar findings, S. aureus must be considered as a possible cause of intoxication, despite the undetected and underreported cases of SFP in the scientific literature.

Prevalence of the Enterotoxigenic <italic>Staphylococcus Aureus</italic> Strains Isolated from Raw Milk and Cheese Produced in North Macedonia

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – Skopje

Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje

Macedonian Veterinary Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Prevalence of the Enterotoxigenic  Strains Isolated from Raw Milk and Cheese Produced in North Macedonia

Staphylococcus aureus is an important foodborne pathogen due to toxin-related virulence, invasiveness and antibiotic resistance. The ability of S. aureus...

Prevalence of the Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus Aureus Strains Isolated from Raw Milk and Cheese Produced in North Macedonia

Published Online: Mar 15, 2021

Page range: 71 - 77

Received: Dec 11, 2020

Accepted: Feb 19, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/macvetrev-2021-0014

Keywords
cheese, milk, enterotoxins, SET RPLA, VIDAS SET 2, North Macedonia

© 2021 Marija Ratkova Manovska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Prevalence of the Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus Aureus Strains Isolated from Raw Milk and Cheese Produced in North Macedonia

Published Online: Mar 15, 2021

Page range: 71 - 77

Received: Dec 11, 2020

Accepted: Feb 19, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/macvetrev-2021-0014

Keywordscheese, milk, enterotoxins, SET RPLA, VIDAS SET 2, North Macedonia

© 2021 Marija Ratkova Manovska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
cheese, milk, enterotoxins, SET RPLA, VIDAS SET 2, North Macedonia