Abstract
Background:
Dairy products are considered some important sources of various nutritional compounds; however, pathogenic bacterial growth is a critical destructive factor to these products leading to consumer health and system financial crises.
Aim:
The current study was carried out to identify if there is any presence of Staphylococcus aureus related enterotoxin genes in cheese samples.
Methods:
The research included the collection of 35 samples. The samples passed through conventional cultivation processes and a PCR method to detect the presence of icaA, sea, hla, and fnbA enterotoxin genes in these samples.
Results:
The conventional identification revealed the growth of S. aureus from the cheese samples. The PCR findings recorded the presence of the icaA, sea, hla, and fnbA in 31 (88.5%), 27 (77%), 19 (54%), and 12 (34%), respectively, of cheese samples. The sequencing revealed close similarities with global isolates, which reached up to 98.5% of identity.
Conclusion:
The current results indicate the presence of enterotoxin genes of Staphylococcus aureus in high rates in the dairy products examined, which reveals critical problems of food safety due to the possible presence of enterotoxins in consumer dairy products.

Key words: Enterotoxin genes, Food-borne diseases, Food safety, Staphylococcus aureus