VANA-MEDIATED HIGH-LEVEL GLYCOPEPTIDE RESISTANCE IN ENTEROCOCCUS-FAECIUM FROM ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains were isolated from a pig farm and a poultry farm both using avoparcin as a food additive . Such organisms were not isolated in a hen's eggs-producing farm not using avoparcin. Glycopeptide-resistant enterococci were also detected in broiler chicken carcasses that were delivered to a hospital's kitc hen. The resistance was determined by the vanA gene as indicated by th e detection of the inducible 39-kDa cytoplasmic membrane protein and o f a vanA-specific DNA sequence amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Genomic DNA fragment patterns of strains from animal sources were dif ferent from each other and also from those of strains isolated in hosp itals and from sewage treatment plants. This findings suggest the diss emination of the vanA determinant among different enterococcal strains of distinct ecological origin.