Toxin Production and Resistance of Species Isolated from Fermented Artisanal Dairy Products in Benin.

species are considered as one of the major pathogens causing outbreaks of food poisoning. The aim of this work was to assess the toxinogenic and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the strains of spp isolated from three types of fermented dairy products (yoghourt, millet , and couscous ). The isolation of the strains was performed on selective media, and their identification was done using biochemical and molecular methods. The susceptibility at 15 antibiotics tested was assessed using the disc diffusion method. The immunodiffusion method was used to evaluate the toxin (luk-E/D, luk-S/F, ETA, and ETB) production. Biofilm formation was qualitatively researched on microplates. Less than half (42.77%) of the collected samples were contaminated with spp. The yoghourt and millet samples collected in the afternoon were more contaminated than those collected in the morning. The , and strains, respectively, were the most present. was the only coagulase-positive species identified in our samples. The highest resistance to antibiotics was observed with penicillin (100%) irrespective of the nature of the sample. strains were highly (71.4%) resistant to methicillin. The strains were the most biofilm-forming (27.6%), followed by strains. Panton and Valentine's leukocidin (luk-S/F) was produced by only strains at a rate of 8.33%. Only coagulase-negative (CNS) produced Luk-E/D. The high rates of contamination indicate bad hygiene quality during the production and distribution of dairy products. It is, therefore, necessary to improve the quality of fermented milk products.