Oxacillin-susceptible mecA-positive Staphylococcus aureus associated with processed food in Europe.
We report for the first time an oxacillin-susceptible mecA-positive Staphylococcus aureus (OS-MRSA) associated with a processed food product in Europe. One isolate (MRSA-ST5-type V SCCmec) was found in cheese among 600 food samples confiscated from air passengers from international flights in Vienna Airport (Austria). Type V SCCmec strains do not harbor functional mecI-mecR1 genes and in such strains mecA expression is regulated by the bla system (blaI-blaR1-blaZ). It has been recently reported that malfunctions in the bla system lead to the constitutive expression of mecA. The OS-MRSA reported in this study harbored the bla system on a plasmid and one deletion occurred in the blaR1 gene causing a frameshift variant that lead to an incomplete BlaR1 protein. This finding highlights the potential role of food as a neglected route of dissemination of emerging MRSA variants.
PMID: 31027762 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Food Microbiology - Category: Food Science Authors: Quijada NM, Hernández M, Oniciuc EA, Eiros JM, Fernández-Natal I, Wagner M, Rodríguez-Lázaro D Tags: Food Microbiol Source Type: research
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