**Abstract**

*Staphylococcus aureus* has vital importance in veterinary medicine. Within the ruminants, it is one of the major causes of mastitis, the problem that was and is, with no definite solution to date. Along with that, it also affects the health of animals, pets, and poultry in several ways as the tissue tropism for this organism in poultry is the bones and the joints. This review is focused on habitat, species differentiation, differential biochemical tests, pathogenesis, clinical infections, economic importance, public health significance, immune response, the regulation of virulence in the staphylococci, and cytokines response against *S. aureus*.

**Keywords:** cytokines, superantigens, tissue tropism, virulence, zinc
