Attieké street vendors: a potential source for dissemination of virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus in consumers

Abstract

The Attiéké is a typical Ivorian side dish made from cassava pulp and more than 34% of households in Abidjan consume attiéké at least once a day with fish or meat. There is also a high consumption in street catering and before being served to customer, attieké is kneaded with hand by saleswomen in order to detach the granules. Our objective was to assess the presence of S. aureus on the hands of Attiéké vendors and investigate for their virulence factors and antibiotics resistance profile. S.aureus strains were recovered from fifty-four street vendors of Attiéké and screened by PCR to detected toxins genes (LukS, EtA and tst) and then tested for susceptibility against antibiotics by disc diffusion method. Of the 54 vendors, 42 (77.8%) were found to be harboring S.aureus in their hands. The genes EtA, EtB and tst were detected respectively in 2.4%, 4.8% and 2.4% S. aureus strains. None of strains contained LukS gene. All the strains were methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and resistant to penicillin and 61.9% of strains were multiple drug resistant. A high prevalence of antibiotics resistance and the presence of virulent S.aureus strains among street vendors represent a potential health hazard for consumers of Attiéké. 

Keywords: Attieké, S. aureus, Staphylococcal toxins, food handler, Exfoliative toxins.