title: Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus species of food animal origin from Beijing and Shandong Province, China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus species from chickens and pigs in Beijing and Shandong Province, China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Swab samples were collected from four farms in Beijing and two in Shandong Province in 2009 and tested for Enterococcus. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of antimicrobial agents were determined using broth microdilution or agar screening methods. A total of 453 Enterococcus isolates were recovered, belonging to six different Enterococcus species. All isolates were sensitive to vancomycin. Resistance to tetracycline (92.5%), amikacin (89.4%), erythromycin (72.8%) and rifampin (58.1%), and high-level streptomycin resistance (HLSR, 50.3%) were prevalent, while resistance to penicillins (7.9% to penicillin and 4.2% to ampicillin) was rare. The resistance rates to phenicols (chloramphenicol and florfenicol) and enrofloxacin, and high-level gentamicin resistance (HLGR) were approximately 30%. The vast majority of the Enterococcus isolates were classified as multidrug-resistant organisms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resistance of Enterococcus sp. to most antimicrobials was more prevalent in China than in European or other Asian countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings reveal a high level of antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus isolates from food animals in China and underline the need for prudent use of antibiotics in chicken and pig production to minimize the spread of antibiotic-resistant enterococci.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Detection Technology for Animal-Derived Food Safety, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D002681:China; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008460:Meat; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents