Abstract
Enterococcus spp. as pathogens have increased, but the sources of infection often remain unclear. To investigate whether poultry might be a reservoir for E. faecalis-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in humans, we characterized E. faecalis isolates from patients in Vietnam with UTIs during January 2008-January 2010 and poultry living in close contact with them by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, analysis of antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns, and sequencing of virulence genes. In 7 (23%) of 31 UTI cases, we detected identical MLST, indistinguishable or closely related pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, and similar antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns. Isolates from urine and poultry showed identical virulence gene profiles, except for 1 variation, and individual genes showed identical sequences. The homology of isolates from urine and poultry further indicates the zoonotic potential and global spread of E. faecalis sequence type 16, which recently was reported in humans with endocarditis and in pigs in Denmark.
Highlights
Enterococcus spp. as pathogens have increased, but the sources of infection often remain unclear
A study comparing enterococcal isolates from 4 European countries and the United States demonstrated that E. faecalis isolated from pigs in Portugal had pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns identical to those of multidrug-resistant isolates at hospitals in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, all of which were shown by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to belong to sequence type (ST) 6 [7]
In 7 (23%) of 31 urinary tract infections (UTIs) cases, E. faecalis isolated from patient urine and poultry demonstrated identical STs and an indistinguishable (4 pairs) or closely related PFGE pattern (3 pairs, defined as showing
Summary
Enterococcus spp. as pathogens have increased, but the sources of infection often remain unclear. To investigate whether poultry might be a reservoir for E. faecalis– associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in humans, we characterized E. faecalis isolates from patients in Vietnam with UTIs during January 2008–January 2010 and poultry living in close contact with them by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, analysis of antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns, and sequencing of virulence genes. A study comparing enterococcal isolates from 4 European countries and the United States demonstrated that E. faecalis isolated from pigs in Portugal had pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns identical to those of multidrug-resistant isolates at hospitals in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, all of which were shown by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to belong to sequence type (ST) 6 [7]. The sources of enterococcal infections in humans are not clear, but animal reservoirs have been suggested
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