Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus is internationally recognised as a principal agent of mastitis and the
foremost reason for economic loss in the dairy industry. The limited data available on
organism-specific antibiotic resistance surveillance in dairy cattle have stimulated the need for
such a review article. The objective of this study was to review relevant literature on
antimicrobial resistance of mastitis-causing staphylococci isolated from dairy cows in South
Africa compared to other countries. Factors relating to the incidence of mastitis and treatment
strategies in terms of the One Health concept and food security were included. The Web of
Science (all databases) and relevant websites were used, and articles not written in English
were excluded. The incidence of mastitis varied between South Africa and other countries.
Antimicrobial resistance patterns caused by S. aureus also varied in regions within Southern
Africa and those of other countries although some similarities were shown. Antimicrobial
resistance differed between S. aureus bacteria that were maltose positive and negative (an
emerging pathogen). The results highlighted the importance of the availability of organismspecific
surveillance data of the incidence of mastitis and antibiotic resistance for specific
countries and within similar climatic conditions. Accurate knowledge about whether a specific
pathogen is resistant to an antibiotic within a certain climate, country, area or farm should
reduce the incidence of unnecessary or incorrect treatment with antibiotics. This should enable
dairy farmers to deal with these organisms in a more effective manner. Therefore such research
should be ongoing.
