Human and Swine Hosts Share Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium CC17 and CC5 and Enterococcus faecalis CC2 Clonal Clusters Harboring Tn1546 on Indistinguishable Plasmids

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 925 - 931
• Main Authors: Freitas, Ana R, Coque, Teresa M, Novais, Carla, Hammerum, Anette M, Lester, Camilla H, Zervos, Marcus J, Donabedian, Susan, Jensen, Lars B, Francia, Maria Victoria, Baquero, Fernando, Peixe, Luísa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01-03-2011
• Subjects: Animals; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Cluster Analysis; DNA Transposable Elements; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Enterococcus faecalis; Enterococcus faecalis - classification; Enterococcus faecalis - drug effects; Enterococcus faecalis - genetics; Enterococcus faecalis - isolation & purification; Enterococcus faecium; Enterococcus faecium - classification; Enterococcus faecium - drug effects; Enterococcus faecium - genetics; Enterococcus faecium - isolation & purification; European Union; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genotype; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - veterinary; Humans; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Typing; Plasmids; Swine; Swine Diseases - microbiology; United States; Vancomycin Resistance; United States; Enterococcus faecalis; Human; Lactic acid bacteria; Peptides; Vancomycin; Plasmid; Resistance; Streptococcaceae; Enterococcus faecium; Vertebrata; Antibiotic; Mammalia; Glycopeptide; Polypeptide; Swine; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Artiodactyla; Antibacterial agent; Veterinary; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01750-10

VRE isolates from pigs (n = 29) and healthy persons (n = 12) recovered during wide surveillance studies performed in Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States (1995 to 2008) were compared with outbreak/prevalent VRE clinical strains (n = 190; 23 countries; 1986 to 2009). Thirty clonally related Enterococcus faecium clonal complex 5 (CC5) isolates (17 sequence type 6 [ST6], 6 ST5, 5 ST185, 1 ST147, and 1 ST493) were obtained from feces of swine and healthy humans. This collection included isolates widespread among pigs of European Union (EU) countries since the mid-1990s. Each ST comprised isolates showing similar pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns ([less-than or equal to]6 bands difference; >82% similarity). Some CC5 PFGE subtype strains from swine were indistinguishable from hospital vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) causing infections. A truncated variant of Tn1546 (encoding resistance to vancomycin) and tcrB (coding for resistance to copper) were consistently located on 150- to 190-kb plasmids (reppLG₁). E. faecium CC17 (ST132) isolates from pig manure and two clinical samples showed identical PFGE profiles and contained a 60-kb mosaic plasmid (repInc₁₈ plus reppRUM) carrying diverse Tn1546-IS1216 variants. The only Enterococcus faecalis isolate obtained from pigs (CC2-ST6) corresponded to a multidrug-resistant clone widely disseminated in hospitals in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and both animal and human isolates harbored an indistinguishable 100-kb mosaic plasmid (reppRE₂₅ plus reppCF₁₀) containing the whole Tn1546 backbone. The results indicate a current intra- and international spread of E. faecium and E. faecalis clones and their plasmids among swine and humans.