Abstract
Enterococcus faecium, E. durans and E. faecalis species were isolated and identified from traditional Urfa cheese samples which were produced from unpasteurized raw milk. The enterococcal load of the cheese samples was between 4.4-5.6 log cfu g−1. High-level tetracycline, streptomycin, erythromycin, gentamycin, and penicillin resistance was determined in the enterococcal isolates. Multiple antibiotic resistance was also determined in E. faecalis (20.4%) and E. faecium (16.3%) strains. 36.7% of the enterococcal isolates were greater than 0.2 MAR index ratio in this study. The gelE and agg2 genes were found in 40 (81.63%) of the enterococcal isolates, whereas the vanB gene was found in 3 (6.12%) of the enterococcal isolates. The results indicate that the consumption of Urfa cheese, which is produced using raw milk, may have public health risk because of its antibiotic resistance characteristics and virulence genes of enterococcal biota.
Highlights
Urfa cheese, which is traditionally produced mainly from sheep, goat or bovine unpasteurized raw milk, is a semi-hard and brined cheese variety in Turkey
It was mentioned that Urfa cheese was produced by raw milk heated up to 30-35°C and that the microbial load of the cheese was, quite high (Uraz et al, 2008)
The isolates were defined as E. faecalis (24), E. faecium (22) and E. durans (3) using the API 20 Strep biochemical test kit (Table 2)
Summary
Urfa cheese, which is traditionally produced mainly from sheep, goat or bovine unpasteurized raw milk, is a semi-hard and brined cheese variety in Turkey. Enterococci is a member of the gastrointestinal microbiota of humans and animals They are presented especially in fermented foods such as sausages and cheeses and may contribute to cheese flavor with their proteolytic and lipolytic enzyme activities. Antibiotic-resistant enterococcal species may be found in cheeses made by using raw and pasteurized milk, their presence in food chain may cause a serious public health risk of spreading antibiotic resistance from food to humans, animals and the environment (Çitak et al, 2004, Camara et al, 2020). It was reported that enterococcal strains isolated from raw milk cheese may carry at least one of the virulence genes such as gelE (Templer & Baumgartner, 2007, Hammad et al, 2015). The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic resistance characteristics and virulence genes of enterococcal strains isolated from traditional white-brined Urfa cheese samples
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