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Characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates from broiler poultry and pig farms in England and Wales.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) isolates on poultry and pig farms in England and Wales. A total of 217 VREF isolates were obtained from fresh feces and environmental swabs collected from conventional and organic farms. A predominant pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profile was found for each VREF-positive farm, together with less frequent types. All isolates presented the vanA genotype and were esp negative. Seventy-six percent of the VREF isolates were additionally resistant to nine or more antimicrobials, presenting a diverse range of resistance phenotypes. The multiresistance traits did not appear to be specific to individual farms or sample types (i.e., environmental or fecal), nor did they correlate with any specific PFGE type. Ninety-three percent of the isolates were resistant to penicillin, 89% were resistant to tetracycline, 87.5% were resistant to erythromycin, and 50% were resistant to quinupristin-dalfospristin (Synercid). The lack of clonality among these populations may suggest the horizontal transfer of resistance genes and/or a dynamic replacement of clonal lines rather than persistence.

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Migura L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1169128 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates from broiler poultry and pig farms in England and Wales.

Garcia-Migura L L Pleydell E E Barnes S S Davies R H RH Liebana E E

Journal of clinical microbiology 20050701 7

This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) isolates on poultry and pig farms in England and Wales. A total of 217 VREF isolates were obtained from fresh feces and environmental swabs collected from conventional and organic farms. A predominant pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profile was found for each VREF-positive farm, together with less frequent types. All isolates presented the vanA genotype and were e ...[more]

PMID: 16000449

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Project description:Monitoring the use of antimicrobials and the emergence of resistance in animals and people is important for the control of antimicrobial resistance, and for establishing sustainable and effective disease management practices. In this study, we used Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli as indicator species to investigate antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and how these change over time, on ten Swedish pig farms. Indoor environmental sock sampling was performed once a month during the entire production cycle of one batch of pigs on each farm, resulting in 60 samples collected in total. Selective culture for E. coli and Enterococcus spp. resulted in 122 isolates of E. coli, 74 isolates of E. faecium, but no isolates of E. faecalis. Microdilution was used to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations for twelve antimicrobial substances in E. coli and fifteen substances in E. faecium. The overall prevalence of resistance was low. Among the E. coli isolates, the proportions non-wild type (resistant, NWT) isolates were as follows: azithromycin and amikacin 1% (n = 1), trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole 2% (n = 3), ampicillin 6% (n = 7) and tetracycline 9% (n = 11). Among the E. faecium isolates, the NWT proportions were: teicoplanin, linezolid and gentamicin 1% (n = 1), daptomycin 3% (n = 2), erythromycin 26% (n = 19), tetracycline 27% (n = 20), quinupristin/dalfopristin 58% (n = 42). The resistance patterns differed between the farms, likely due to different antimicrobial use, biosecurity measures and source of the animals. The NWT prevalence among E. coli decreased over time, whereas no similar trend could be observed in E. faecium. The results of the current study illustrate the complex factors affecting the antimicrobial resistance patterns observed on each farm, indicating that specific practices and risk factors have an impact on the prevalence and type of antimicrobial resistance. Further studies of the farm environments in combination with antimicrobial use and other risk factor data are needed to elucidate the multifaceted drivers of antimicrobial resistance development on livestock farms.

Project description:Enterococcus faecium clinical isolates A902 and BM4538, which were resistant to relatively high levels of vancomycin (128 and 64 microg/ml, respectively) and to low levels of teicoplanin (4 microg/ml), and Enterococcus faecalis clinical isolates BM4539 and BM4540, which were resistant to moderate levels of vancomycin (16 microg/ml) and susceptible to teicoplanin (0.25 microg/ml), were studied. They were constitutively resistant by synthesis of peptidoglycan precursors ending with d-alanyl-d-lactate and harbored a chromosomal vanD gene cluster which was not transferable by conjugation to other enterococci. VanX(D) activity, which is not required in the absence of d-Ala-d-Ala, was low in the four strains, although none of the conserved residues was mutated; and the constitutive VanY(D) activity in the membrane fractions was inhibited by penicillin G. The mutations E(13)G in the region of d-alanine:d-alanine ligase (which is implicated in d-Ala1 binding in A902) and S(319)N of the serine involved in ATP binding in BM4538 and a 7-bp insertion at different locations in BM4539 and BM4540 (which led to putative truncated proteins) led to the production of an impaired enzyme and accounted for the lack of d-Ala-d-Ala-containing peptidoglycan precursors. The same 7-bp insertion in vanS(D) of BM4539 and BM4540 and a 1-bp deletion in vanS(D) of A902, which in each case led to a putative truncated and presumably nonfunctional protein, could account for the constitutive resistance. Strain BM4538, with a functional VanS(D), had a G(140)E mutation in VanR(D) that could be responsible for constitutive glycopeptide resistance. This would represent the first example of constitutive van gene expression due to a mutation in the structural gene for a VanR transcriptional activator. Study of these four additional strains that could be distinguished on the basis of their various assortments of mutations confirmed that all VanD-type strains isolated so far have mutations in the ddl housekeeping gene and in the acquired vanS(D) or vanR(D) gene that lead to constitutive resistance to vancomycin.

Dataset Information

Characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates from broiler poultry and pig farms in England and Wales.

Publications

Characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates from broiler poultry and pig farms in England and Wales.

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