Cephalexin-aztreonam-arabinose agar (CAA), a new selective agar, was examined in comparison with nalidixic acid-colistin agar for the differentiation of Enterococcus faecium from other enterococci and the ability to isolate the organism from feces. Two hundred sixteen enterococcus isolates and a variety of gram-positive and gram-negative control strains were inoculated onto both media. All cont...

Enterococcus raffinosus, a non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococcus, rarely causes infections in humans. We describe the first reported case of primary bacterial endocarditis caused by E. raffinosus, with a review of the literature.

We evaluated the new automated VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux) for the identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of enterococci. The results obtained with the VITEK 2 system were compared to those obtained by reference methods: standard identification by the scheme of Facklam and Sahm [R. R. Facklam and D. F. Sahm, p. 308-314, in P. R. Murray et al., ed., Manual of Clinical Microbiolo...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to discover the potential role of the pig farm environment in the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Enterococcus strains, including high-risk clones, to animals and humans. METHODS Enterococcus isolates were recovered from a variety of samples (n = 82; swine, feed/medicines/antiseptics and pig farm facilities) from six Portuguese farms, most using antibi...

BACKGROUND In U.S. conventional poultry production, antimicrobials are used for therapeutic, prophylactic, and nontherapeutic purposes. Researchers have shown that this can select for antibiotic-resistant commensal and pathogenic bacteria on poultry farms and in poultry-derived products. However, no U.S. studies have investigated on-farm changes in resistance as conventional poultry farms trans...

The need for new antimicrobial agents with activity against Gram-positive organisms has become increasingly important because of emerging resistance. We compared the activity of a new b-lactam antimicrobial agent, RWJ-54428 (MC-02 479), with representatives of other classes of antimicrobial agents against 76 Staphylococcus aureus (including four glycopeptide- intermediate strains), 50 coagulase...

This study investigated the inhibitory effect of probiotic Enterococcus faecium WB2000 on biofilm formation by cariogenic streptococci. The ability of E. faecium WB2000 and JCM5804 and Enterococcus faecalis JCM5803 to inhibit biofilm formation by seven laboratory oral streptococcal strains and 13 clinical mutans streptococcal strains was assayed. The Enterococcal strains inhibited biofilm forma...

In this study the distribution of species and antimicrobial resistance among vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) recovered from clinical specimens obtained from five hospitals in Belgrade was analyzed. Strains were further characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the presence of vanA and vanB genes and pathogenicity fac...

Infection with Enterococcus hirae has rarely been reported in humans but is not uncommon in mammals and birds. We describe a case of Enterococcus hirae bacteremia associated with acute pancreatitis, acute cholecystitis, and septic shock responsive to antibiotic therapy and supportive critical care management. Unique aspects of this case of Enterococcus hirae bacteremia are its association with ...