Where do staphylococci come from?
Staphylococci exist in air, dust, sewage, water, milk, and food or on food equipment, environmental surfaces, humans, and animals. Humans and animals are the primary methods of transport. Staphylococci are present in the nasal passages and throats and on the hair and skin of 50 percent or more of healthy individuals. This incidence is even higher for those who associate with or who come in contact with sick individuals and hospital environments. Although food handlers are usually the main source of food contamination in food poisoning outbreaks, equipment and environmental surfaces can also be sources of contamination with staph. People can contract the illness by eating food that is contaminated with any one of many strains of staph, usually because the food has not been kept hot enough or cold enough. Staph bacteria grow and reproduce at temperatures from 50 degrees F to 120 degrees F, with the most rapid growth occurring near body temperature (about 98 degrees F). The toxin produced
