Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections and staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP). This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and enterotoxigenicity of MRSA in broiler chicken meat and giblets. A total of 5.5% (8/144) of the examined samples were contaminated with mecA positive/mecC negative MRSA, with staphylococcal counts of approximately 10² colony forming units (CFU)/g in breast, leg and gizzard samples and approximately 3.3 × 10³ CFU/g in frozen liver samples. Most MRSA isolates (75%, 6/8) harboured the staphylococcal enterotoxin B (seb) gene. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) showed that MRSA isolates initiated SEB production in experimentally contaminated chicken livers within 24 h of storage at temperatures over 8 °C. SEB was maximally produced at 24 °C when the MRSA counts reached 7.3 × 10³ ± 1.2 × 10³ CFU/g sample homogenate. The current study concludes that the main broiler chicken MRSA isolates in Egypt harbour the seb gene. To mitigate possible SEB production, especially in broiler chicken livers, a maximum “out of refrigeration” time limit should be implemented for cold chain poultry products.

耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）导致几种难以治疗的感染和葡萄球菌食物中毒（SFP）。进行这项研究以调查MRSA在肉鸡鸡肉和内脏肉中的流行性和肠毒性。总共5.5％（8/144）的检测样品被mec A阳性/ mec C阴性MRSA污染，在乳房，腿和g的样本中葡萄球菌计数约为10 ²集落形成单位（CFU）/ g，冷冻肝样品中的3.3×10 ³ CFU / g。大多数MRSA分离株（75％，6/8）带有葡萄球菌肠毒素B（seb）基因。逆转录PCR（RT-PCR）显示，MRSA分离物在温度超过8°C的储存条件下24小时内，在受实验污染的鸡肝中引发SEB产生。当MRSA计数达到7.3×10 ³  ±1.2×10 ³ CFU / g样品匀浆时，SEB在24°C时最大生成。目前的研究得出的结论是，埃及的主要肉鸡MRSA分离株具有seb基因。为了减轻SEB的可能产生，特别是在肉鸡肝中，应对冷链家禽产品实施最大“冷藏”期限。