COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF S. AUREUS ISOLATED FROM HUMANS AND BIRDS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate biological properties of S. aureus isolated from a poultry plant staff, birds and bacteria carriers. Almost all the isolates of S. aureus had a number of virulence factors. All strains of S. aureus were characterized by an ability to form biofilms. In spite of the fact that individual values of biofilm biomass of different strains varied widely, there were no significant statistical differences between the mean values of these strains isolated from various sources. The study of antibiotic susceptibility revealed that the cultures isolated from bacteria carriers were sensitive to a wide spectrum of antibacterial agents. At the same time, strains isolated from the birds and a number of strains isolated from the staff were resistant to antibacterial agents used in poultry keeping. Almost all the isolates of bacteria carriers were lysed by typical bacteriophages of the "H" set ("Human"). Most of the isolates from the birds and the third part of the staff-strains were not sensitive to bacteriophages. The cultures isolated from the bacteria carriers belonged to the Ekovar A ("Human"). Some strains isolated from the birds and the poultry farm staff also belonged to this Ekovar, while most of the "bird" S. aureus cultures belonged to the Ekovar B ("Chicken"). Thus at the poultry farm, there was observed an exchange of S. aureus strains among the staff and the birds.