Epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in enterococci of animal origin.

Objective: We evaluated the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in enterococci from animal farms and the potential relation of resistance to antimicrobial use.

Methods: Enterococci from faecal samples from 18 beef cattle, 18 dairy cattle, 18 swine, 13 chicken, and eight turkey farms were prospectively evaluated over a 6 year period from 1998 to 2003.

Results: We evaluated 1256 isolates of Enterococcus faecium and 656 isolates of Enterococcus faecalis.

Antimicrobial resistance in swine and chickens fed virginiamycin for growth promotion.

In a prospective controlled study, we evaluated pigs (5-month period) and chickens (11-week period) fed subtherapeutic levels of virginiamycin. A total of 13 Enterococcus faecium were isolated from 10 pigs and 17 from 8 chickens. There were 8 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns in E.

Evaluation of a plastic nonvented aerobic blood culture bottle for use with the BacT/ALERT microbial detection system.

The current BacT/ALERT SA (BTA SA) aerobic blood culture bottle is made from glass, does not require venting, and contains a liquid emulsion sensor (LES). Its performance has been shown to be equivalent to that of the vented standard aerobic culture bottle. A further-improved version of the BTA SA bottle, designated the BacT/ALERT plastic SA (BTA PSA) culture bottle, is made from clear plastic to prevent breakage, does not require venting, and contains a modified LES (LES 2) to reduce the possibility of false positives.

Clinical comparison of nonvented aerobic BacT/Alert blood culture bottle and standard aerobic bottle for detection of microorganisms in blood.

The current BacT/Alert standard aerobic (VA) blood culture bottle was redesigned and designated a nonvented aerobic (NVA) culture bottle; this bottle does not require venting. A total of 3,873 sets of blood samples for culture were obtained from adult patients with suspected bacteremia or fungemia. The NVA bottle showed performance equivalent to that of the VA bottle for recovery and speed of detection of microorganisms from blood without the need for venting the bottle.