Echinoderms from Azores islands: an unexpected source of antibiotic resistant Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli isolates.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance and the implicated mechanisms of resistance were evaluated in Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli, isolated from a total of 250 faecal samples of echinoderms collected from Azorean waters (Portugal). A total of 144 enterococci (120 Enterococcus faecium, 14 E.