This study was designed to determine the prevalence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus in table eggs in El-Fayoum city, Egypt. A total of 250 table egg samples (75 Baladi hens’, 75 white farm hens’, 75 brown farm hens’ and 25 duck egg samples) were collected randomly from poultry farms, groceries, supermarkets, and street vendors in El-Fayoum city, Egypt. Each Baladi hen ҆s egg sample was represented by five eggs, while each farm hen ҆s and duck egg sample was represented by three eggs. The shells and contents of eggs were examined for the presence of Staphylococcus spp < /em>., coagulase (coa), and staphylococcal enterotoxins (Ses) genes. The obtained results revealed that the examined samples of shells and contents of Baladi hens ҆, poultry farms ҆ (white and brown), and ducks ҆ eggs were contaminated with Staphylococcus spp. with incidences of 24.0, 9.3, 5.3, 44.0, 8.0, 2.7, 1.3 and 12.0 %, respectively and coagulase-positive S. aureus with the incidences of 16.7, 14.3, 0.0, 18.2, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 and 33.3 %, respectively. Enterotoxin profiling by PCR proved that two classical enterotoxin genes (Seb and Sed) were produced from three (42.86%) coagulase-positive S. aureus strains, as two Baladi hens’ ҆ eggshells produced Seb and one of the ducks ҆ egg contents produced Sed. The public health hazards of the isolated strains and enterotoxins had been discussed.

It has been suggested that coagulase-negative staphylococci can serve as reservoirs of virulence genes for other bacteria. This study assessed the presence of such genes in selected isolates recovered from meat of the giant African snail (Achatina achatina). Virulence genes were detected using a polymerase chain reaction targeting specific primers. Two representative isolates were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that the staphylococcal enterotoxin A gene (sea) was present in five out of the eight isolates studied. The isolates expressed resistance mainly to three antibiotics: chloramphenicol, norfloxacin and cloxacillin in descending order of incidence. Most importantly, the Staphylococcus sciuri isolate NEDU 181, in addition to being resistant to the three aforementioned antibiotics, also harboured the sea gene. Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, the presence of toxigenic and antibiotic-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. in commercially-available fresh snail meat. With staphylococcal enterotoxin A known to survive cooking temperature, this presents a food safety concern.