ENTEROTOXIN GENE CONTENT AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PROFILES OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATED FROM TRADITIONAL TURKISH DAIRY-BASED DESSERTS

This study was conducted to examine the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in traditional Turkish dairy-based desserts and to determine the enterotoxigenic characteristics and antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates. A total of 130 desserts (35 supangle, 30 keskul, 25 firin sutlac, 15 kazandibi, 15 tavuk gogsu and 10 profiterol) were randomly collected from bakeries around Samsun city center. Classic culture technique was used for isolation and confirmation was performed multiplex-polymerase chain reaction (mPCR). Overall, 35 (26.9%) of the 130 samples were found positive for S. aureus while 13 (29.5%) of the 44 isolates had enterotoxigenic genes. Enterotoxigenic isolates were characterized as follows: 5 sea (38.4%), 5 seb (38.4%), 1 see (7.6%) and 2 sea+see (15.3%). None of the isolates tested positive for ,necA. Thirty-five of the isolates (79.5%) were resistant to penicillin G. Fifteen (34%), 10 (22.7%), 10 (22.7%), and three (6.8%) of the isolates were resistant to vancomycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and gentamycin, respectively. Multidrug resistance properties were observed in 3 enterotoxigenic and 10 non-enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates. As a result, the presence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus in dairy-based desserts samples and antibiotic resistance properties of isolates indicates that the consumption of products that are not stored under proper conditions may cause a serious public health hazard.