Characterization of vancomycin-resistant and vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus faecium isolates from humans, chickens and pigs by RiboPrinting and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Forty-eight vancomycin-resistant and 35 vancomycin-sensitive Danish Enterococcus faecium isolates obtained from pigs, chickens and humans, as well as the human vanA reference isolate BM4147, were characterized by EcoRI RiboPrinting and SmaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. RiboPrinting of the 84 isolates yielded 40 types whereas PFGE-typing yielded 57 types discriminated by differences in more than three bands. By molecular typing, both clonal spread of E. faecium as well as horizontal transmission of Tn1546 between animals and humans was supported. Furthermore, it was found that the population of E. faecium spreads freely between the animal and human reservoir.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Volume45
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)677-80
Number of pages4
ISSN0305-7453
Publication statusPublished - May 2000
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Animals, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bacterial Proteins, Bacterial Typing Techniques, Carbon-Oxygen Ligases, Chickens, Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI, Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific, Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field, Enterococcus faecium, Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections, Humans, Poultry Diseases, Restriction Mapping, Swine, Swine Diseases, Vancomycin, Vancomycin Resistance, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

ID: 172849734