Abstract
Intestinal commensal bacteria are considered good indicators for monitoring antimicrobial resistance. We investigated the antimicrobial resistance profiles and resistance trends of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis isolated from food animals in Korea between 2010 and 2019. E. faecium and E. faecalis, isolated from chickens and pigs, respectively, presented a relatively high resistance rate to most of the tested antimicrobials. We observed high ciprofloxacin (67.9%), tetracycline (61.7%), erythromycin (59.5%), and tylosin (53.0%) resistance in E. faecium isolated from chickens. Similarly, more than half of the E. faecalis isolates from pigs and chickens were resistant to erythromycin, tetracycline and tylosin. Notably, we observed ampicillin, daptomycin, tigecycline and linezolid resistance in a relatively small proportion of enterococcal isolates. Additionally, the enterococcal strains exhibited an increasing but fluctuating resistance trend (p < 0.05) to some of the tested antimicrobials including daptomycin and/or linezolid. E. faecalis showed higher Multidrug resistance (MDR) rates than E. faecium in cattle (19.7% vs. 8.6%, respectively) and pigs (63.6% vs. 15.6%, respectively), whereas a comparable MDR rate (≈60.0%) was noted in E. faecium and E. faecalis isolated from chickens. Collectively, the presence of antimicrobial-resistant Enterococcus in food animals poses a potential risk to public health.
Highlights
Enterococci are commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans
A more frequent occurrence of resistance to most of the tested antimicrobials was observed among the E. faecalis isolates compared with E. faecium (Table 1)
50% of the E. faecalis isolates were resistant to macrolides and tetracycline, whereas we noted a moderate resistance rate to these antimicrobials in E. faecium
Summary
Enterococci are commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans. They can be detected in the environment and in foods of animal origin. They are considered emerging pathogens of humans and are often associated with invasive nosocomial infections [1]. Enterococci have emerged as good indicators of antibiotic resistance. They can acquire resistance genes from other bacteria, which can spread to other commensal and pathogenic bacteria through horizontal transfer of mobile genetic elements [2]. The frequent use of antimicrobials in humans and animals select for resistant enterococci [3]
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