Large amounts of tylosin, zinc-bacitracin, and avilamycin are currently used as prophylactics in New Zealand broiler production. Avoparcin was also used from 1977 to 2000. A total of 382 enterococci were isolated from 213 fecal samples (147 individual poultry farms) using enrichment broths plated on m-Enterococcus agar lacking antimicrobials. These isolates were then examined to determine the p...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to discover the potential role of the pig farm environment in the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Enterococcus strains, including high-risk clones, to animals and humans. METHODS Enterococcus isolates were recovered from a variety of samples (n = 82; swine, feed/medicines/antiseptics and pig farm facilities) from six Portuguese farms, most using antibi...

The prevalence of acquired resistance in 146 Enterococcus faecium and 166 Enterococcus faecalis strains from farm and pet animals, isolated in 1998 and 1999 in Belgium, against antibiotics used for growth promotion and for therapy was determined. Acquired resistance against flavomycin and monensin, two antibiotics used solely for growth promotion, was not detected. Avoparcin (glycopeptide) resi...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the genetic and molecular basis of high-level resistance to gentamicin and amikacin in 91 clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium in a university hospital in southern Italy from 1987 to 2003. METHODS Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated by disc diffusion and microdilution methods. Genotyping was performed by PFGE and dendrogram analysis. ...

Resistance to linezolid has been associated with a G2576U mutation in domain V of the 23S rRNA. We analyzed nine clinical isolates of linezolid-resistant enterococci and showed a clear association between the number of 23S rRNA genes containing this mutation and the level of linezolid resistance expressed.

Non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococci are an occasional cause of bacteremia, and some cases of infective endocarditis caused by these pathogens have been reported. However, the rate of infective endocarditis in non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococcal bacteremia is still undetermined. We compared the clinical features and the rate of infective endocarditis of 70 cases of non-faecalis and no...

Small colony variants (SCV) are slow-growing subpopulations of bacteria usually associated with auxotrophism, causing persistent or recurrent infections. Enterococcus faecalis SCV have been seldom described, and only one case of Enterococcus faecium SCV has been reported, associated with sepsis in a leukaemia patient. Here we report the first case described of bacteraemia and endocarditis by SC...

In Enterococcus faecium 228, vancomycin resistance is encoded on a 55-kilobase conjugative plasmid, pHKK100. This plasmid was transferred with high frequency into susceptible strains of Enterococcus faecalis and conferred responses to pheromones produced by E. faecalis and Streptococcus sanguis. pHKK100 is the first plasmid described that mediates both vancomycin resistance and pheromone response.

Sows and their piglets were fed a diet supplemented with or without the probiotic E. faecium NCIMB10415 (also known as SF68). Piglets were sacrificed 14, 28, 35 and 56 days after birth and DNA from intestinal segments was extracted and purified. A real time PCR assay was used to distinguish Enterococcus spp. (16s rDNA based), E. faecium (Efaafm gene), E. faecalis (Efaafs gene) as well as the pr...

Oritavancin (MIC50/90, 0.03/0.06 to 0.12 μg/ml) had potent activity against linezolid-resistant staphylococci, as well as Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium (oritavancin MIC50/90, 0.015/0.12 μg/ml against both species). All linezolid-resistant isolates were inhibited by oritavancin at ≤0.12 μg/ml. These results confirmed the absence of cross-resistance between linezolid and oritavan...