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.

Molecular and clinical epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis.

Objectives: With the recent emergence of vancomycin-resistant (VR) Staphylococcus aureus, subsequent to the suggested transfer of the vanA resistance gene from Enterococcus faecalis, we sought to determine risk factors for acquisition of VR E. faecalis and to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of this less-prevalent and less-studied species of VR enterococcus.

Methods: We compared clinical isolates of VR E.