Incidence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from ready-to-eat foods of animal origin from tourist destinations of North-western Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh, India

This study was aimed to determine the incidence of Staphylococcus aureus in ready-to-eat (RTE) milk (n = 120) and meat (n = 120) products from various tourist places in north western Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh, India. S. aureus isolates and its enterotoxins; A, B, D and E were characterized by conventional and molecular methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility (AMS) profiles of S. aureus isolates were determined by disk diffusion method using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute criteria. Overall, 6.7% (n = 16/240) food samples were positive for S. aureus. PCR amplification of nucA confirmed all biochemically characterized isolates as S. aureus. Incidence of S. aureus was higher (10.0%) in RTE milk products than meat products (3.3%). S. aureus contamination levels were highest in milk cake/khoa (26.0%, p = 0.0002) followed by ice cream/kulfi (10.0%, p = 0.4), mutton momo (10.0%, p = 0.4), burfi (3.3%, p = 0.7) and chicken momo (3.3%, p = 0.7). None of the isolates carried genes for S. aureus enterotoxins; A, B, D and E. AMS testing revealed seven different resistance patterns and 81.3% multi drug resistance. All the isolates were resistant to ampicillin. High resistance levels were observed against methicillin (93.7%), clindamycin (68.8%), erythromycin (56.3%) and vancomycin (43.8%). Vancomycin resistant (n = 7) isolates were also resistant to methicillin. All isolates were susceptible to novobiocin.