Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterococcus sp Isolated from Soft Cheese in Southern Brazil

The aim of this research was to study the incidence of antibiotic resistance in 56 Enterococcus strains isolated from dairy products. The identification of enterococci was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers to E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus, and antibiotic resistance was tested by the disk diffusion method. The most prevalent species was E. faecium with a rate of 58.33%, followed by 27.77% E. faecalis, 11.11% E. casseliflavus and 2.7% E. gallinarum. Distribution of resistance was found in different species. All isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, imipenem and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. In addition, isolates resistant to tetracyclin, nalidixic acid, amikacin, erythromycin, vancomycin and cephalothin were detected. A total of 66.6% of E. faecium and 58.3% of E. faecalis strain were resistant to multiple drugs. The van(A) gene was detected in 100% of vancomycin resistant enterococci. Considering the results of our study, dairy enterococci can be considered a potential source for dissemination of antibiotic resistances.