Determination of Biofilm Production, Genotype and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Enterococcus feacium Isolates Originated from Dog, Cat and Human

The aim of the study was to determine the biofilm production, genotypes, antibiotics resistance patterns and antibiotypes of 82 Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from dog, cat and human. Of examined strains biofilm production detected totally 72 (87.8%) in 35 (97.2%) dog, 22 (78.6%) cat and 15 (83.3%) human isolates. Genotyping of isolates was performed by RAPD-PCR and 16, 3 and 4 different profiles were detected in dog, cat and human isolates, respectively. In total of 98.8% with a maximum resistance to nalidixic acid and 4.9% with the lowest resistance to vancomycin was found. None of vancomycin resistance 4 isolates, vancomycin resistance genes (vanA, vanB, vanC1/C2 or vanD) has been detected. Antibiotyping of isolates was performed with UPGMA and 5 groups of dog, 10 groups of cat and 7 groups of human isolates were determined. The results from this study indicate that healthy dogs and cats are a source of Antibiotic resistant enterococci and may act as a reservoir of resistance that can be transferred from pets to people. Also our results demonstrated that the phenotype and genotype patterns found among enterococci strains from dogs, cats and humans were heterogeneous.