title: Diversity of Enterococcus cecorum from chickens.
abstract: Enterococcus cecorum is a normal inhabitant of the intestine of birds and other vertebrates. It has recently emerged in Canada and other countries as an important cause of arthritis and osteomyelitis in chickens. The objectives of this study were to assess if this emergence was caused by a particular clone of E. cecorum and to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of this organism. One hundred and thirteen E. cecorum isolates from infections in Canadian chickens (cases) and from the ceca of control chickens from Canada and Belgium were examined. Isolates were identified using biochemical tests and, for a number of them, identification was confirmed by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Case and control isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the broth microdilution method. Cecal isolates from control birds were genetically very diverse but the vast majority of those from cases belonged to a single major clonal lineage. Reduced susceptibility was widespread for tetracycline, bacitracin, and erythromycin. Isolates from cases were generally less susceptible to antimicrobial agents than isolates from control birds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. pboerlin@uoguelph.ca
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boerlin
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brash
authors.forename: Durda
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Slavic
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boyen
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sanei
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Butaye
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001530:Belgium; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D002170:Canada; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S