Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated from Subclinical Bovine Mastitis Milk and Bulk Tank Milk

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main bacterial pathogens involved in bovine mastitis in Zulia State-Venezuela. The objective of this research was to determine the susceptibility to antimicrobial agents of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the mammary quarter milk of subclinical mastitis cows and from bulk tank milk in three dairy farms of Zulia State. A total of 88 strains were analyzed, of these isolates 81 were isolated from quarter milk and 7 from bulk tank milk. The susceptibility to antimicrobial agents of those strains was determined by agar disk diffusion test. The antibiotics tested were: vancomycin (Va), streptomycin (S), clindamycin (Cc), erithromycin (E), tetracycline (Te), penicillin (Pe), ciprofloxacin (Cip), cefoxitin (Fox), chloramfenicol (C), enrofloxacin (Enr), rifampicin (Rif), trimethoprim/sulfametoxazole (SXT), oxacillin (Ox) and gentamicin. (G). Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for Pe, Va, Ox and E was determined. S. aureus strains isolated from quarter milk were resistant to Pe (12.3%), Enr (8.6%), Cip, S (4.9%, respectively), E (3.7%), Cc, and Rif (2.5%, respectively). Strains isolated from bulk tank milk were resistant to Pe and Te (28.6%, respectively) and Cc (14.3%). The results indicate that isolates of S. aureus from mammary quarter milk of subclinical mastitis were more susceptible to all antimicrobial agents (70%) compared with strains from the bulk tank milk (57%).