title: vanA-mediated high-level glycopeptide resistance in Enterococcus faecium from animal husbandry.
abstract: Glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains were isolated from a pig farm and a poultry farm both using avoparcin as a food additive. Such organisms were not isolated in a hen's eggs-producing farm not using avoparcin. Glycopeptide-resistant enterococci were also detected in broiler chicken carcasses that were delivered to a hospital's kitchen. The resistance was determined by the vanA gene as indicated by the detection of the inducible 39-kDa cytoplasmic membrane protein and of a vanA-specific DNA sequence amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Genomic DNA fragment patterns of strains from animal sources were different from each other and also from those of strains isolated in hospitals and from sewage treatment plants. This findings suggest the dissemination of the vanA determinant among different enterococcal strains of distinct ecological origin.
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Klare
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heier
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reissbrodt
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Witte
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006020:Glycopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008025:Ligases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011200:Poultry; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D006020:Glycopeptides; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D008025:Ligases; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases