Isolation of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium from food

TY - JOUR

T1 - Isolation of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium from food

AU - Wegener, Henrik Caspar

AU - Madsen, Mogens

AU - Nielsen, Niels

AU - Aarestrup, Frank Møller

PY - 1997/3/18

Y1 - 1997/3/18

N2 - In a survey of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) in Danish meat products, VREF could be detected in 16% of 160 samples of broilers collected at slaughterhouses and in 15% of 26 samples of pork collected from the retail trade. VREF were isolated by enrichment for 24 h in nutrient broth supplemented with vancomycin 150 μg/ml) prior to plating on Slanetz and Bartley agar. Using direct plating on Slanetz and Bartley agar, VREF could be isolated from only 1.7% of 540 samples of broilers from slaughterhouses and 2.2% of 90 samples of broilers from retail outlets. VREF was not detected in 124 samples of pork and 128 samples of beef from retail outlets by the direct plating method. An additional enrichment step in nutrient broth supplemented with vancomycin enhanced the detection rate of VREF by approximately three times compared to the direct plating method when investigating the same 160 samples of broilers by the two methods. The implications and public health aspects of VREF in food is discussed.

AB - In a survey of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) in Danish meat products, VREF could be detected in 16% of 160 samples of broilers collected at slaughterhouses and in 15% of 26 samples of pork collected from the retail trade. VREF were isolated by enrichment for 24 h in nutrient broth supplemented with vancomycin 150 μg/ml) prior to plating on Slanetz and Bartley agar. Using direct plating on Slanetz and Bartley agar, VREF could be isolated from only 1.7% of 540 samples of broilers from slaughterhouses and 2.2% of 90 samples of broilers from retail outlets. VREF was not detected in 124 samples of pork and 128 samples of beef from retail outlets by the direct plating method. An additional enrichment step in nutrient broth supplemented with vancomycin enhanced the detection rate of VREF by approximately three times compared to the direct plating method when investigating the same 160 samples of broilers by the two methods. The implications and public health aspects of VREF in food is discussed.

KW - Beef

KW - Broilers

KW - Detection

KW - E. faecium

KW - Food

KW - Pork

KW - Vancomycin resistance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030934693&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/S0168-1605(96)01221-4

DO - 10.1016/S0168-1605(96)01221-4

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 9081226

AN - SCOPUS:0030934693

SN - 0168-1605

VL - 35

SP - 57

EP - 66

JO - International Journal of Food Microbiology

JF - International Journal of Food Microbiology

IS - 1

ER -