Isolation of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium from food

Prevalence and antibiotic resistance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in animal originated foods

“…Among these VRE, 11 strains exhibited high-level resistance, 2 of which had a MIC value equivalent to 64 µg/mL, while 9 had MICs higher than 256 µg/mL. VRE having MIC values higher than 64 µg/mL were reported for the isolates from Danish meat products by Wegener et al (16) and from Italian cheeses by Giraffa et al (1). Another study carried out by Pedonese et al (29) in Tuscany revealed that E. faecium isolated from meat products had MIC values of ≥256 µg/ mL.…”

“…Dissemination of VRE and other resistant enterococci may be either by infected patients or by the transfer of bacteria from contaminated medical instruments and surfaces (5). Nevertheless, several studies showed the presence of VRE in farm animals (4,6,7) and animal-originated food samples in different countries (1,(14)(15)(16), suggesting that the food chain would be a potential vehicle for transmission of VRE from animals to humans.…”

Antibiotic use in animal feed and its impact on human healt

“…Erythromycin-resistant campylobacters have often been reported in pigs (Elharrif & Megraud, 1984;Hariharan et al 1990;Moore et al 1996), with Moore et al (1996) reporting more frequent resistance in Campylobacter coli isolates. Aarestrup et al (1997) found that tetracycline resistance was more common in human isolates than in pig or poultry isolates, and that there was more macrolide and streptomycin resistance in isolates from pigs than in human and poultry isolates. Resistance to ampicillin, spectinomycin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and nalidixic acid (but not¯uoroquinolones) was detected in campylobacter isolates in Ireland (Lucey et al 2000), whereas a study in Spain (Saenz et al 2000) reported very high levels of cipro¯oxacin resistance in pig and poultry isolates.…”

Exploring the evidence base for national and regional policy interventions to combat resistance

“…A survey in 1995 revealed the first evidence that Avoparcin leads to the emergence of AMR; researchers found Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus bacteria (VRE) in 80% of the chickens from conventional (Avoparcin using) farms, whereas none were found in chickens from organic farms. 109,110 In humans, a similar increase in VRE bacteria was seen, which could either be due to Vancomycin use in humans, or to human consumption of contaminated meat. 110 112 Neither the Danish nor the EU bans seem to have affected agricultural productivity negatively and Danish data for national pork production, documents a significant increase in the number of pigs produced from 1998 to 2011 (23 to 30 million pigs annually).…”

“…109,110 In humans, a similar increase in VRE bacteria was seen, which could either be due to Vancomycin use in humans, or to human consumption of contaminated meat. 110 112 Neither the Danish nor the EU bans seem to have affected agricultural productivity negatively and Danish data for national pork production, documents a significant increase in the number of pigs produced from 1998 to 2011 (23 to 30 million pigs annually). 95 In LMICs, a lack of awareness amongst farmers is high, with one study conducted in Tanzania showing that while most livestock keepers were using antibiotics to treat their animals with some observing a withdrawal period prior to slaughter, approximately 40% were not aware of any related possible human health threats.…”