Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE, cilt.21, sa.10, ss.643-657, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Domestic horses could be bred for leisure activities and
meat production, as is already the case in many countries. Horse meat is consumed in various countries, including
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and with the increase in this consumption, horses
are registered as livestock by the Food and Agricultural Organization. In this study, horse
meat microbiota of horse samples (n=56; 32 samples from Kazakhstan and 24
samples from Kyrgyzstan) from 4 different regions, Kazakhstan (n=3) and
Kyrgyzstan (n=1) were investigated first time by NGS and metabarcoding analysis.
The results demonstrated that Firmicutes Proteobacteria
and Actinobacteria were the
dominant bacterial phylum in all samples. In addition, three (5,4%) Staphylococcus spp. were isolated from
the Uzynagash region, Kazakhstan. Staphylococcus
strains were identified as Staphylococcus
warneri, S. epidermidis, and S. pasteuri by partial 16S rRNA DNA gene
Sanger sequencing. All three Staphylococcus
isolates were non-biofilm formers; only the S.
pasteuri was detected as multidrug-resistant (resistant to penicillin,
cefoxitin, and oxacillin). In addition, S.
pasteuri was found to carry mecA, mecC, and tetK genes. Our
first data indicated the presence of potential pathogen Staphylococcus spp. involved in horse meat samples originating from
Kazakhstan. In conclusion, it should be carefully considered that undercooked
horse meat may pose a risk to consumers in terms of pathogens such as
antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus isolates.