To develop a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for visual detecting Staphylococcus aureus, 2 sets of specific primers were designed and 6 primers targeting the nuc gene was selected. The method could detect Staphylococcus aureus within 45 min at a constant temperature of 63 ℃. The sensitivity of the method was 1 pg/μL, and had no cross reaction with other pathogens. The result indicated that the LAMP assay was a rapid, specific and simple tool for field diagnosis of Staphylococcus aureus.