Abstract
The role of household meat handling and consumption in the transfer of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from livestock to consumers is not well understood. Examining the similarity of S. aureus colonizing humans and S. aureus in meat from the stores in which those individuals shop can provide insight into the role of meat in human S. aureus colonization. S. aureus isolates were collected from individuals in rural and urban communities in Iowa (n = 3347) and contemporaneously from meat products in stores where participants report purchasing meat (n = 913). The staphylococcal protein A (spa) gene was sequenced for all isolates to determine a spa type. Morisita indices and Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance Using Distance Matrices (PERMANOVA) were used to determine the relationship between spa type composition among human samples and meat samples. spa type composition was significantly different between households and meat sampled from their associated grocery stores. spa types found in meat were not significantly different regardless of the store or county in which they were sampled. spa types in people also exhibit high similarity regardless of residential location in urban or rural counties. Such findings suggest meat is not an important source of S. aureus colonization in shoppers.
Highlights
The role of meat handling and consumption in the transfer of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from livestock to consumers is not well understood
Examining the genetic similarity of S. aureus colonizing humans and the S. aureus found in meat samples at the stores in which those individuals shop is one way to examine the role of contaminated meat products in
Four each in Johnson and Keokuk Counties, 3290 samples were taken from meat, of which 913 (27.8%) were S. aureus positive
Summary
Meat and human samples were incubated for 24 hours at 35 °C at which time a loopful of broth was inoculated onto Baird Parker agar (BPA) plates with EY tellurite enrichment (BD) and selective MRSA agar plates (BBL CHROMagar MRSA, Becton, Dickinson and Company). The Morisita index of distance served as the basis for all the following multivariate analyses, which were used to determine whether the composition of S. aureus spa types was similar between households and meat from the stores at which they shopped, was similar between households residing in the same Census tract or similar between counties.
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