Staphylococcus aureus toxin

Staphylococcus aureus is a complex bacterial pathogen that is implicated in a wide variety of human and animal infections.

Some Staphylococcus produce a toxin, which is responsible for food poisoning. The staphylococcus enterotoxin is heat stable. The toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus is not readily destroyed by heat. So that cells of the bacterium can be killed during processing, but the toxin may remain behind.

For this reason, if Staphylococcus aureus is suspected, even if not found, a Staphylococcus toxin test should be performed.

Such foods as milk powder have cause staphylococcus poisoning, yet no living staphylococcus could be isolated from them. In the case of milk powder, the bacteria were destroyed during the heating required for drying the milk.

Almost all strains of S. aureus secrete a group of enzymes and cytotoxins that includes four hemolysins ( α, γ, β, 𝛿), nucleases, proteases, lipases, hyaluronoidase, and collagenase.
Staphylococcus aureus toxin