We characterised 227 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from retail food and food handlers' gloves samples obtained through food surveillance and risk assessment studies between 2011 and 2014. Of 227 isolates, five (2.2%) were methicillin-resistant and belonged to sequence types ST80 (n = 3) and ST6 (n = 2). All five isolates belonged to SCCmec type IV, were Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl)-negative and staphylococcal enterotoxin genes-positive. Resistance to azithromycin was found in ST80 isolates, in addition to resistance to beta-lactams. Our finding of two clinically relevant methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains (ST80 and ST6) in ready-to-eat food and food contact surfaces at retail in Singapore suggests food and food contact surfaces as potential environmental sources of MRSA in the community.
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Enterotoxin genes; Food contact surface; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); Panton-valentine leukocidin (pvl) gene; Retail food.