Determination of some virulence factors in staphylococci isolated from milk and meat products

The aim of this work is to characterize Staphylococcus spp. isolated from meat and milk products in Ankara, Turkey. A total of 232 isolates were isolated from raw calf meat (minced), chicken drumsticks, raw milk, ice cream, and white cheese samples. The isolates were identified as S. aureus (10.3 %), S. intermedius (7.8 %), S. hyicus (1.7 %), S. cohnii (23.2 %), S. hominis (18.1 %), S. xylosus (8.1 %), S. simulans (7.8 %), S. capitis (6 %), S. epidermidis (5.6 %), S. haemolyticus (4.3 %), S. auricularis (3.9 %), S. wameri (2.1 %) and S. saprophyticus (0.9 %). A high proportion of Staphylococcus isolates had virulence factors such as slime formation (42.7 %), biofilm formation (35.3 %), DNase activity (32.8 %) and hemolytic activity (31 %). Our findings indicate that meat, milk and their products represent potential hazardous sources of virulent Staphylococcus species.