Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis Isolated from Healthy Dogs and Cats in South Korea

Abstract

Enterococcus spp. are typically found in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals. However, they have the potential to produce opportunistic infections that can be transmitted to humans or other animals, along with acquired antibiotic resistance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profiles of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis isolates obtained from companion animal dogs and cats in Korea during 2020–2022. The resistance rates in E. faecalis towards most of the tested antimicrobials were relatively higher than those in E. faecium isolated from dogs and cats. We found relatively higher resistance rates to tetracycline (65.2% vs. 75.2%) and erythromycin (39.5% vs. 49.6%) in E. faecalis isolated from cats compared to those from dogs. However, in E. faecium, the resistance rates towards tetracycline (35.6% vs. 31.5%) and erythromycin (40.3% vs. 35.2%) were comparatively higher for dog isolates than cats. No or very few E. faecium and E. faecalis isolates were found to be resistant to daptomycin, florfenicol, tigecycline, and quinupristin/dalfopristin. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was higher in E. faecalis recovered from cats (44%) and dogs (33.9%) than in E. faecium isolated from cats (24.1%) and dogs (20.5%). Moreover, MDR patterns in E. faecalis isolates from dogs (27.2%) and cats (35.2%) were shown to encompass five or more antimicrobials. However, E. faecium isolates from dogs (at 13.4%) and cats (at 14.8%) were resistant to five or more antimicrobials. Taken together, the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant enterococci in companion animals presents a potential public health concern.

Effects of dietary supplementation of Enterococcus faecium postbiotics on growth performance and intestinal health of growing male mink

“…Some studies have demonstrated that E. faecium is beneficial as a feed additive for improving growth performance ( 7 ), digestibility ( 8 ), and immunity ( 9 ), while reducing diarrhea occurrence ( 7 ) and alleviating salmonella infection ( 9 , 10 ). However, some strains of E. faecium have been identified as opportunistic pathogens with resistance to many antibiotics ( 11 , 12 ). Consequently, concerns have been raised regarding the safety of E. faecium as a probiotic.…”