Transmission of opportunistic pathogens in a veterinary teaching hospital

Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterococcus faecalis, enterococcus faecium, and S taphylococcus intermedius isolates from infected surgical wounds and other types of infections in a veterinary teaching hospital were typed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. A first cluster of infections with a multiresist ant A. baumannii strain was observed in dogs and cats in 1998-1999. This st rain disappeared after cleaning and disinfection of the companion animals i ntensive care unit. It was followed in 2000 by a second multiresistant stra in, which caused another cluster of infections and was also transmitted to a patient in the nearby horse clinic. Transmission of a multiresistant E. f aecium strain between two cats with surgical wound infections was also obse rved during the same period. No multiresistant S. intermedius strain was ob served during this time and transmission of this organism between patients did not seem to occur. The present study demonstrates the potential for hos pital nosocomial resistance problems in veterinary medicine similar to thos e encountered in human medicine. The results suggest that the epidemiology of nosocomial infections with A. baumannii and E. faecium may differ from t hat of S. intermedius infections and that preventive measures may have to b e adapted to the problem organism. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.