Comparison of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from personnel in a poultry hatchery and in broiler parent farms with those isolated from skeletal disease in broilers

Personnel from one broiler hatchery, and workers on 18 separate broiler par ent farms which supply the hatchery, were tested for hand and nasal carriag e of Staphylococcus aureus. In both locations, nasal carriage of S. aureus was more common than hand carriage. A total of 63 S. aureus strains were ch aracterised by biotyping, protein A analysis and pulsed field gel electroph oresis (PFGE) typing. Of these, 36 were recovered from broiler hatchery per sonnel, 14 from broiler parent farm personnel and 13 from cases of skeletal disease in commercial broilers. Biotyping and protein A analysis indicated that none of the strains recovered from hatchery personnel were of the pou ltry biotype, but that two strains recovered from the hands of two broiler parent farm personnel could be grouped together with 12/13 of strains recov ered from skeletal disease in broilers, as poultry biotypes, PFGE-typing co uld not distinguish 9/13 strains recovered from skeletal disease in broiler s and one of the strains from the broiler parent farm personnel from isolat e 24 (I. 24), which is the predominant S. aureus strain type associated wit h clinical disease in N. Ireland broiler flocks. The present study found no evidence of nasal carriage of S. aureus strains of poultry biotype by huma ns. The finding of hand carriage by broiler parent farm personnel, suggests that handling by personnel may contribute to the dissemination of I. 24 Or Other S. aureus strains associated with skeletal disease in broilers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.