Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a gram-positive bacteria that can cause a wide variety of clinical diseases. Some strains of S. aureus can produce enterotoxins (SEs) that can lead to staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks. To date, 23 enterotoxins have been identified as distinct serological entities including SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE with SEA is most frequently involved in food poisoning caused by staphylococcus. Diagnosis is based on the detection of the SEs using sandwich immunoassays or by molecular analysis.