the susceptibility of two methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) and one methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus (mssa) to essential oils (eos) extracted from five algerian medicinal plants (lamiaceae) was evaluated. thymus fontanesii and thymus numidicus eos revealed a carvacrol chemical profile (62.7 and 46.8%, respectively) whereas origanum glandulosum eo was characterized by high contents of carvacrol and thymol. mentha pulegium was characterized by a high content of pulegone (74.8%) never put in evidence. the major components of lavandula stoechas l. were fenchone (48.0%) and camphor (21.1%). antibacterial activities against mrsa and mssa were evaluated by disk diffusion method and microdilution broth assay. this is the first report on the antibacterial activity against mrsa for eos from the species t. fontanesii and t. numidicus and for m. pulegium from algeria. eos were found to be strongly bactericidal (mic from 0.3 l/ml to 4.7 l/ml) which suggests an additional option to treat mrsa infections.