Food Microbiology

Staphylococcus aureus and Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 are both important foodborne pathogens around the globe. S. aureus can cause a wide range of infections from skin infection to life-threatening diseases including endocarditis, pneumonia, sepsis as well as toxin-mediated conditions such as toxic shock syndrome; on the other hand Escherichia coli O157:H7 can cause symptoms from mild diarrhea to severe hemorrhagic colitis (HC), hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In this study it was aimed to find out the prevalence and seasonal distribution of Staphylococcus aureus in 214 frozen raw meat (74 turkey, 70 chicken and 70 beef) and the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in 70 raw beef with the characterization of the E. coli O157:H7 isolate by multiplex PCR. Out of 214 meat samples, 25.7% (18/70) of the beef, 11.4% (8/74) of the chicken meat, and 5.4% (4/70) of the turkey meat samples were contaminated with S. aureus. Out of 70 frozen raw beef samples, only 1 (1.4%) was identified as both shiga toxin 1 and 2 producing E. coli O157:H7 by the detection of stx1, stx2, eaeA, hly, and fliCh7 according to multiplex PCR analysis. Our findings showed that occurrence frequency of S. aureus was higher in frozen raw beef than in raw chicken and turkey meat samples and the highest prevalences were detected in autumn months. Although the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 was low in beef, the presence of virulence genes, especially toxin genes remain a significant public health concern.