Presence of antimicrobial resistant Staphylococcus aureus in chicken meat and its potential public health implications

Aim: Multi-drug resistant bacteria have become a global issue. Drug-resistant bacteria can be found in humans,
animals, food and environmental sources. Staphylococcus aureus is one of many bacteria species known for its
antimicrobial resistance. The current study is conducted to determine the antimicrobial resistance profiles of S. aureus
isolated from raw chicken meat samples in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Methodology and results: Fifty raw and fresh chicken meat samples were purchased from 3 different wet markets in
Kota Bharu, Kelantan and were transported to the laboratory aseptically. Routine isolation and identification of S. aureus
was conducted and the isolates were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) through the detection of a S.
aureus specific gene, nucA. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests were conducted according to Kirby-Bauer methods (Hudzicki,
2013). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 24% (12/50) of the samples. All the isolates were resistant towards at
least two of the antimicrobials tested. Of these, 11 (91.67%), 10 (83.33%), 5 (41.67%), 3 (25%), 1 (8.33%) and 1
(8.33%) were resistant to ampicillin (AMP10), teicoplanin (TE30), amoxicillin (AML10), penicillin (P10), oxacillin (OX1)
and mupirocin (MUP20) respectively. In addition to that, all the isolates were susceptible to streptomycin, vancomycin,
teicoplanin and cefoxitin. However, all the isolates were negative for the methicillin resistance encoding gene, mecA
while one of the isolates showed resistance towards oxacillin.
Conclusion, significance and impact of the study: The results from this study indicated that raw chicken intended for
human consumption may be contaminated by antimicrobial-resistant strains of S. aureus. This may lead to the
colonization or infection in humans. Nevertheless, further detailed investigation to determine the correlation between
contamination of chicken meat and colonization of antimicrobial resistant S. aureus should be carried out. The relevance
of the present study which showed contamination of fresh chicken meat with antimicrobial resistant S. aureus
emphasizes the need to have stricter hygiene measures for retailers during the handling of the chicken meat to minimize
or avoid possible health hazards for consumers.