Detection of Enterotoxin Genes (seg, seh and sei) in Staphylococcus aureus Milk Isolates from Cow with Subclinical Mastitis

Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus can be isolated from various sources and are responsible for food poisoning in addition to many suppurative infections. In the present study, from 82 physically normal milk samples from cattle subclinical mastitis 33(40.24%) were isolated to S. aureus. Out of these, 22 (66.66%) S. aureus isolates had either one or more enterotoxin genes. Both seg and sei enterotoxin genes were carried by 19 (57.5%) S.aureus isolates while only three (9.09%) isolates were positive for seh gene. This study showed the evidence of presence of enterotoxin genes seg, seh, and sei in S. aureus isolates from subclinical mastitis. The presence of these enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains in milk indicates potential public health concern