ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Staphylococcus aureus FROM SELECTED SEAFOODS IN BENIN CITY

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Seafood is an important source of protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. Microbiological surveillance of sea food such as crayfish, periwinkle, fish and shrimp’s products provides empirical data to enlighten scientific guidance for improving the safety and quality of food. A total of 52 seafood samples which include 6 shrimps, 15 crayfish, 7 smoked fish, 9 frozen fish, and 15 periwinkles from five local markets in Benin City, Nigeria were assessed. The fish samples were microbiologically assessed using cultural, biochemical and antibiotic susceptibility techniques. The occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus were shrimps [0/6 (0%)], crayfish [4/15 (26.7%)], smoked fish [4/7 (57.1%)], frozen fish [3/9 (33.3%)] and periwinkles [4/15 (26.7%)]. The highest prevalence occurred in smoked fish samples while there was no occurrence observed in shrimp samples. The distribution of Staphylococcus species based on market location were Ekiosa market [2/8 (25%)], Uselu market [1/9 (11.1%)], New Benin market [1/13 (7.7%)], New Market [(4/9) (44.4%)] and Oba market [7/13 (53.9%)]. The highest prevalence was observed at Oba market (53.9%) while the least prevalence was observed at New Benin market (7.7%). The highest antibiotic resistance was demonstrated to penicillin with a resistance rate of 100% while there was no resistance observed towards nitrofurantoin and gentamicin. The multiple antibiotics resistance (MAR) index of Staphylococcus aureus in this study ranged from 0.7 – 0.3. All the isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics and demonstrated an MAR index ≥ 0.3.