Incidence, Antimicrobial Susceptibility, and Toxin Genes Possession Screening of in Retail Chicken Livers and Gizzards.

Few recent outbreaks in Europe and the US involving and were linked to the consumption of chicken livers. Studies investigating in chicken livers and gizzards are very limited. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence of and MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant ) in retail chicken livers and gizzards in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In this study, 156 chicken livers and 39 chicken gizzards samples of two brands were collected. While one of the brands showed very low prevalence of 1% (1/100) for in chicken livers and gizzards, the second brand showed prevalence of 37% (31/95). No MRSA was detected since none harbored the or gene. Eighty seven isolates from livers and 28 from gizzards were screened for antimicrobial resistance to 16 antimicrobials and the possession of 18 toxin genes. Resistance to most of the antimicrobials screened including cefoxitin and oxacillin was higher in the chicken gizzards isolates. While the prevalence of enterotoxin genes and was higher in the gizzards isolates, the prevalence of hemolysin genes , , and was higher in the livers ones. The lucocidin genes was equally prevalent in chicken livers and gizzards isolates. Using typing, a subset of the recovered isolates showed that they are not known to be livestock associated and, hence, may be of a human origin. In conclusion, this study stresses the importance of thorough cooking of chicken livers and gizzards since it might contain multidrug resistant enterotoxigenic . To our knowledge this is the first study to specifically investigate the prevalence of in chicken livers and gizzards in the US.