Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most dangerous types of bacteria because of the many serious infections it can cause and because of the difficulty in treating these infections.
These cells are spherical or ovoid in shape, non-motile and liquid cultures, arrange themselves in grapelike clusters, in small groups, in pairs or in short chains.
They grow best in the presence of air (oxygen) but they also grow in the absence of air. They will grow in media or in foods that contain as much as 10% salt (NaCl). When this organism grows in foods they produce a toxin that can be filtered away from foods and the bacterial cells.
There are three major contamination scenarios existing:
* Staphylococcus aureus frequently associated with dairy cows and is leading cause of intramammary infection
*The second major source is recontamination by food handlers carrying enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus in their noses or on their hands
*Air, dust and biofilm in difficult-to-access niches in primary and secondary food production facilities can also serve as source of Staphylococcus aureus to foods.
The toxin is not destroyed by cooking. Every year in the United States, roughly 400,000 hospital patients are infected by Staphylococcus aureus.
Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea that occur shortly after ingestion of Staphylococcus aureus toxin-contaminated food.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria
