METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA) IN CAMEL MEAT: PREVALENCE AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY

This study is an initiative study intended to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA obtained from fresh camel meat retailed in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. The survey has been conducted for five months where fresh camel meat were microbiologically analyzed to isolate S. aureus using culture media and VITEK2 technique. The Identification of S. aureus was done by DNA expression of gene specific 16S rRNA, while mecA gene expression was recognized in the identified MRSA isolates using PCR. The recorded prevalence of S. aureus was 10.7 % (20/187) from raw camel meat. Three isolates out of twenty S. aureus isolates were confirmed to be MRSA. Susceptibility to 10 antimicrobials was estimated using the disc diffusion method. These results suggested that MRSA is found in camel meat retailed at Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. We recommend that, surveillance protocol should be embraced in meat safety and public health programs.Key words: camel meat, S. aureus, MRSA, antimicrobial resistance