ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococci
from Wild Animals in Slovakia
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1
Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Šoltésovej 4-6, Košice 040 01, Slovakia
2
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology and Ecology, Matej Bel University,
Tajovského 40, Banská Bystrica 974 01, Slovakia
3
Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice,
Šrobárova 2, Košice 041 54, Slovakia
Submission date: 2020-05-10
Final revision date: 2020-08-07
Acceptance date: 2020-08-13
Online publication date: 2021-01-26
Publication date: 2021-03-08
Corresponding author
Anna Kopcakova
Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, Košice 040 01, Slovakia, Slovak Republic
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2021;30(3):2085-2091
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ABSTRACT
The spread of antibiotic resistant strains is not limited to the clinical environment, but the emergence
of resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in the environment has now become one of the
environmental pollution factors. As a model organism for the study of the spread of antibiotic resistance
genes, which are a part of digestive tract, we decided to use the genus of Enterococcus isolated from
wild living animals in Slovakia to perform screening for the presence of antibiotic resistance. In our
work, two hundred and eighty- three isolates were analysed. Among isolates the Enterococcus faecalis
(67.1%) followed by E. hirae (15.9%), E. faecium (6.4%), E. casseliflavus (4.2%), E. durans (3.5 %)
and E. mundtii (2.8%) species dominated. The most frequently resistance to tetracycline (29.3%) and
erythromycin (15.9%) was detected. In birds and mammals a similar frequency of resistant enterococci
was observed. The differences in antimicrobial resistance to ampicillin and vancomycin were observed.
Higher prevalence of ampicillin resistant isolates was detected in birds. On the other hand, vancomycin
resistant enterococci were detected in mammals but not in birds. The presence of selected antimicrobial
resistance genes was studied by PCR with tet(M) and erm(B) genes being to be the most frequently
encountered. Vancomycin resistant enterococci harboured only van(C1) gene. The occurrence of
antimicrobial resistance in enterococci from the digestive tract of wild living animals suggests
the genetic pollution of environment which could pose a risk for human and animal health.