It has been suggested that coagulase-negative staphylococci can serve as reservoirs of virulence genes for other bacteria. This study assessed the presence of such genes in selected isolates recovered from meat of the giant African snail (
Virulence genes were detected using a polymerase chain reaction targeting specific primers. Two representative isolates were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
The results showed that the staphylococcal enterotoxin A gene (
Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, the presence of toxigenic and antibiotic-resistant coagulase-negative