Randomized trial characterizes antimicrobial resistance and virulence in Enterococcus spp. across One Health sectors, highlighting integrated surveillance importance.
Key Points
This study aimed to characterize the species distribution and analyze the antimicrobial resistance and virulence traits of Enterococcus spp. from human, animal, and environmental sources.
Samples were collected in Lisbon, Portugal, from various One Health sources including humans, animals, and the environment, totaling 66 samples.
Genetic diversity was assessed using RAPD-PCR on 90 isolates, and 74 representative enterococci were selected for further analysis.
Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested using disk diffusion against 12 antibiotics, with resistance genes screened by PCR.
E. faecalis was the most prevalent species, comprising 85.1% of isolates, followed by E. faecium at 6.8%.
Sick human isolates exhibited higher resistance levels than healthy human isolates, highlighting the impact of health status on resistance.
All E. faecium isolates were multidrug-resistant, with rifampicin and quinupristin-dalfopristin resistance frequently observed.