<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> In March 2012, a food poisoning outbreak was reported in a Romanian county, with a total number of 30 children affected. The symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain), with onset within 1-2 hours after the ingestion of a particular food (milk), suggested a possible staphylococcal aetiology. An outbreak investigation was carried out, in accordance with the national surveillance methodology and 25 samples: stool (n=9), vomit (n=5), nasal swabs (n=9), and milk (n=2) were collected from the affected children, food handlers and suspected food. All isolated strains were sent to the Reference Centre for Staphylococci within the “Cantacuzino” National Institute of Research-Development for Microbiology and Immunology, Bucharest, Romania, for confirmation and further analysis. The aim of this study was to increase the reference laboratory capacity to confirm staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) outbreak by defining the molecular basis of toxicity of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolates and assessing their genetic relatedness. PCR methods have been used to detect 14 enterotoxin genes and the expression of some of these genes was proved by using a reverse transcription real-time PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Staphylococcus protein A coding gene sequence typing (spa typing) have been used to track the origin of the S. aureus contamination and to confirm the food poisoning outbreak. </p><p>Two enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains isolated from milk, twelve isolated from patients and two from food handlers were of the same spa- type (t902) and revealed an indistinguishable SmaI macrorestriction pattern after a PFGE analysis. All these strains harboured the same toxin genes profile, namely the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), which strongly supports the evidence that the milk was the incriminated food vehicle of the outbreak and a food-handler was the most likely source of the staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) incident.</p></abstract>

In March 2012, a food poisoning outbreak was reported in a Romanian county, with a total number of 30 children affected. The symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain), with onset within 1-2 hours after the ingestion of a particular food (milk), suggested a possible staphylococcal aetiology. An outbreak investigation was carried out, in accordance with the national surveillance methodology and 25 samples: stool (n=9), vomit (n=5), nasal swabs (n=9), and milk (n=2) were collected from the affected children, food handlers and suspected food. All isolated strains were sent to the Reference Centre for Staphylococci within the “Cantacuzino” National Institute of Research-Development for Microbiology and Immunology, Bucharest, Romania, for confirmation and further analysis. The aim of this study was to increase the reference laboratory capacity to confirm staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) outbreak by defining the molecular basis of toxicity of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolates and assessing their genetic relatedness. PCR methods have been used to detect 14 enterotoxin genes and the expression of some of these genes was proved by using a reverse transcription real-time PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Staphylococcus protein A coding gene sequence typing (spa typing) have been used to track the origin of the S. aureus contamination and to confirm the food poisoning outbreak. Two enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains isolated from milk, twelve isolated from patients and two from food handlers were of the same spa- type (t902) and revealed an indistinguishable SmaI macrorestriction pattern after a PFGE analysis. All these strains harboured the same toxin genes profile, namely the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), which strongly supports the evidence that the milk was the incriminated food vehicle of the outbreak and a food-handler was the most likely source of the staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) incident.

Staphylococcus aureus harbouring egc cluster coding for non-classical enterotoxins, involved in a food poisoning outbreak, Romania, 2012 / Staphylococcus aureus purtător de gene codante pentru enterotoxine non-clasice (cluster egc), implicat într-un focar de toxiinfecţie alimentară, România, 2012

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania

National Institute of Public Health Bucharest, Romania

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, Romania

Revista Romana de Medicina de Laborator

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

In March 2012, a food poisoning outbreak was reported in a Romanian county, with a total number of 30 children affected. The symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea and...

Published Online: Sep 30, 2015

Page range: 285 - 294

Received: Mar 12, 2015

Accepted: Jun 26, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rrlm-2015-0026

Keywords
Staphylococcus aureus, egc- enterotoxin gene cluster, staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), spa typing, PFGE

© by Ileana Luminita Coldea

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Published Online: Sep 30, 2015

Page range: 285 - 294

Received: Mar 12, 2015

Accepted: Jun 26, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rrlm-2015-0026

KeywordsStaphylococcus aureus, egc- enterotoxin gene cluster, staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), spa typing, PFGE

© by Ileana Luminita Coldea

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Staphylococcus aureus, egc- enterotoxin gene cluster, staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), spa typing, PFGE