title: Characterization of veterinary hospital-associated isolates of Enterococcus species in Korea.
abstract: Possible cross-transmission of hospital-associated enterococci between human patients, medical staff, and hospital environments has been extensively studied. However, limited information is available for veterinary hospital-associated Enterococcus isolates. This study investigated the possibility of cross-transmission of antibiotic-resistant enterococci between dog patients, their owners, veterinary staff, and hospital environments. Swab samples (n =46 5) were obtained from five veterinary hospitals in Seoul, Korea, during 2011. Forty-three Enterococcus strains were isolated, representing seven enterococcal species. E. faecalis and E. faecium were the most dominant species (16 isolates each, 37.2%). Although slight differences in the antibiotic resistance profiles were observed between the phenotypic and the genotypic data, our antibiogram analysis demonstrated high prevalence of the multiple drug-resistant (MDR) isolates of E. faecalis (10/16 isolates, 62.5%) and E. faecium (12/16 isolates, 75.0%). Pulsed-field gel electrophoretic comparison of the MDR isolates revealed three different clonal sets of E. faecalis and a single set of E. faecium, which were isolated from different sample groups or dog patients at the same or two separate veterinary hospitals. These results imply a strong possibility of cross-transmission of the antibiotic-resistant enterococcal species between animal patients, owners, veterinary staff, and hospital environments.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Ka Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sook
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jae Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jang Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004285:Dogs; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D006762:Hospitals, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058889:Molecular Typing
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents