Antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw cow and goat milk produced in the Tiaret and Souk Ahras areas of Algeria

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infection in both humans and animals. Most livestock strains have shown antibiotic resistance to the many molecules used in veterinary therapeutics. This study aimed to assess the resistance patterns of these bacteria, we carried out our study in the Tiaret and Souk Ahras areas of Algeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected 116 samples of bovine and goat milk to detect S. aureus. We used a selective media to isolate the strains, followed by biochemically identifying the isolates. We determined the susceptibility of the strains to antibiotic molecules using the disk diffusion method and confirmed the methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) with oxacillin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). RESULTS: Our results showed that 26.72% of the samples were contaminated with S. aureus, and we recovered 31 isolates from the positive samples. We ascribed a high resistance profile to penicillin G (96.77%), fusidic acid (67.74%), and tobramycin (45.16%) and isolated 4MRSA strains. CONCLUSION: The presence of S. aureus, including MRSA strains in raw milk, can present a public health hazard, because these strains can cause widespread food poisoning. This finding will be useful to the veterinarians to choose an adequate treatment and to sensitize livestock breeders and milk producers to ensure the health of consumers.