Antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolates isolated from food products in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Authors: Kulikova N.G. ,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation, Chernyshkov A.V. , Mikhaylova Y.V. , Maxutova G.T. , Yessenova Z.A. , Bityumina L.A. , Shelenkov A.A. , Egorova A.E. , Manzeniuk I.N. , Akimkin V.G. ,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   National Center of Expertise of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan,   National Center of Expertise of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation
Published: July 2024

Foodborne diseases are the serious public health problem. One of the most common food pathogens in the world is Staphylococcus aureus, which is second only to salmonellosis in terms of the frequency of cases. Materials and methods. We studied 146 antimicrobial-resistant S. aureus isolates isolated from ready-to-eat (RTE) food products in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 2018 to 2019 and from 2021 to 2022. The taxonomic position of the bacteria was identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The phenotypic sensitivity of bacteria was determined to 45 antimicrobial drugs by the method of minimum suppressive concentration (MSC) and the disco diffusion method (DDM). Antimicrobial resistance genes in S. aureus multidrug-resistant isolates (MDR) were determined using genome-wide sequencing (WGS). Results. The comprehensive study of the profile of antibiotic sensitivity of S. aureus food isolates was conducted, in which phenotypic sensitivity to antibiotics and the presence of resistance determinants were characterized. As far as we know, this is the first epidemiological study of S. aureus cultures of food origin using WGS in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The results revealed that the studied S. aureus isolates belong to seven different sequence types based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST), with the predominance of sequence type ST22. The studied isolates may pose a threat to public health, since 33% of S. aureus isolates were resistant to methicillin (MRSA), and the mecA gene associated with a high level of nosocomial MRSA infections was found in 45% of S. aureus isolates. Conclusion. Since food products represent one of the key routes of transmission and distribution of resistance genes, it is necessary to further monitor food products and food raw materials for the presence of antimicrobial-resistant Staphylococcus spp. Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, antimicrobial resistance, WGS