Enterotoxin production by Staphylococcus species other than Staphylococcus aureus has been reported. Staphylococcus strains (104 in toto) representing twelve species and subspecies were examined for enterotoxins using a commercial staphylococcal enterotoxin ELISA immunoassay (TECRA, International Bioproducts). Staphylococcus intermedius (24 strains) and S. aureus (7 strains) were positive with this test. Western blots of S. aureus exoproteins demonstrated proteins of ∼30 kD, consistent with known staphylococcal enterotoxins. The major antigen in all S. intermedius strains, a 75 kD protein, was not analogous to previously described staphylococcal enterotoxins. This protein was unique to S. intermedius. Gel filtration data indicate that the protein is a subunit of a larger protein in vivo. The 75 kD protein cross-reacts with several enterotoxin antibodies. It is unclear whether the protein is a toxin, but its homology with S. aureus enterotoxins may indicate a shared toxic region, or this protein may create false positive results in screening for enterotoxin.

Campylobacter has been known for more than a century and today Campylobacter infection is considered the leading cause of bacterial foodborne disease in the developed world. Consumption of undercooked poultry and/ or handling of raw poultry are seen as the main transmissions of Campylobacterto humans due to high levels (107 and 108 CFUlg) of C.jejunifound in the intestinal tract of raw poultry. Several studies have suggested that by delaying addition of antibiotics for 2 h at 37??C there was a better recovery of Campylobacter in food samples. Rinses from sixty whole carcasses were treated to non-pre-enrichment incubation and preenrichment at 37??C or 42??C for 2, 4 and 6h. Using TECRA?????? CAMVIA immunoassay method, results showed that 100% of the carcasses were positive for Campylobacter when the pre-enrichment techniques was applied compared to just 30-60% positive results from non pre-enrichment techniques. To develop more efficient enrichment methods, thirty carcass rinses were incubated in Bolton, Preston and TECRA??? broth under aerobic and microaerobic atmosphere at 25??C and 42??C. Results' from TECRA??? CAMVIA revealed that recovery of Campylobacter spp. from TECRA??? broth under aerobic conditions and Bolton or Preston broth under microaerobic conditions are not significantly different (p > 0.05). Charcoal based CCDA and Karmali agar were as effective as blood based Campy-Cefex agar in isolating Campylobacter spp. although Karmali was better in suppressing the growth of background microflora. Twenty samples of retail poultry carcasses, offal, portion chicken, mince respectively and ten samples of each fresh chicken sausages and frozen nuggets respectively were enriched in TECRA??? and Preston broths for recovery of Campylobacter. TECRA??? CAMVIA showed that 100% (TECRA??? and Preston) of the portion chicken was Campylobacter positive compared to 80 (TECRA???)-100% (Preston) of liver, 90 (TECRA???)-1 00% (Preston) of minced chicken and 65 (TECRA???)-75% (Preston) of carcasses. The difference between the two broths to recover Campylobacter spp. was not significant.