title: Host specificity of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium.
abstract: Amplified-fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was used to investigate the genetic relationships among 255 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) strains isolated from hospitalized patients, nonhospitalized persons, and various animal sources. Four major AFLP genogroups (A-D) were discriminated. The strains of each taxon shared >/=65% of the restriction fragments. Most isolates recovered from nonhospitalized persons (75%) were grouped together with all pig isolates in genogroup A. Most isolates from hospitalized patients (84%), a subset of veal calf isolates (25%), and all isolates from cats and dogs clustered in genogroup C. Most isolates from chickens (97%) and turkeys (86%) were grouped in genogroup B, whereas most veal calf isolates (70%) clustered in genogroup D. Therefore, VREF strains are predominantly host-specific, and strains isolated from hospitalized patients are genetically different from the prevailing VREF strains present in the fecal flora of nonhospitalized persons.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. rob.willems@rivm.nl
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Top
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van Den Braak
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Endtz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mevius
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stobberingh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Den Bogaard
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: van Embden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens; D004285:Dogs; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013552:Swine; D014422:Turkeys; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6