Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus spp. from crows and their environment in metropolitan Washington State, USA: Is there a correlation between VRE positive crows and the environment?

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE] have been isolated from municipal, hospital and agricultural wastewater, recreational beaches, wild animals, birds and food animals around the world. In this study, American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) from sewage treatment plants (WWTP), dairy farms, and a large roost in a restored wetland with corresponding environmental samples were cultured for VRE. A total of 245 samples [156 crows, 89 environmental] were collected and screened for acquired vanA, vanB and/or intrinsic vanC1 genes. Samples were enriched overnight in BHI supplemented with 20µg/mL aztreonam, 4µg/mL vancomycin and plated on m-Enterococcus agar media supplemented with 6µg/mL vancomycin. Selected colonies were grown on BHI media supplemented with 18µg/mL vancomycin. Of these, 24.5% of the crow and 55% the environmental/cow samples were VRE positive as defined by Enterococcus spp. able to grow on media supplemented with 18µg/mL vancomycin. A total of 122 VRE isolates, 43 crow and 79 environmental isolates were screened, identified to species level using 16S sequencing and further characterized. Four vanA E. faecium and multiple vanC1 E. gallinarum were identified from crows isolated from three sites. E. faecium vanA and E. gallinarum vanC1 along with other Enterococcus spp. carrying vanA, vanB, vanC1 were isolated from three environments. All enterococci were multidrug resistant. Crows were more likely to carry vanA E. faecium than either the cow feces or wetland waters/soils. Comparing E. gallinarum vanC1 from crows and their environment would be useful in determining whether crows share VRE strains with their environment.

Environment surface sampling in 33 Washington State fire stations for methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S aureus (MSSA) were isolated from environment surfaces sampled from 33 Washington State fire stations. METHODS: Samples were collected by fire personnel using commercial testing swabs. One to 6 surfaces were sampled per swab with 20 swabs per station. Biochemical tests were used to confirm MRSA and MSSA isolates. A short survey designed to collect information on cleaning procedures in the stations was included in the kits. RESULTS: MRSA was isolated from 8.0% and MSSA from 18.5% of the 653 samples. Nineteen fire stations (58.0%) were MRSA positive, 27 stations (82.0%) were MSSA positive, and 14 stations (42.4%) were positive for both MSSA and MRSA. Three stations (9.0%) were negative for MSSA and MRSA. Twelve fire stations (37.5%) reported fire service professionals with MRSA needing medical care. Positive controls were detected at levels of >10(2) CFU/mL and negative controls were negative. CONCLUSIONS: The kit system allowed sampling of >2,000 surfaces from fire stations across Washington State. This is the first time an estimate of the level of MRSA-infected fire personnel has been determined from multiple districts within a single state. Further work is needed to determine if these data can be extrapolated to other career-based fire stations across the country.

Characterization of macrolide resistance genes in Haemophilus influenzae isolated from children with cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVES: to determine the mechanism(s) of macrolide resistance in Haemophilus influenzae isolated from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients participating in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of azithromycin. METHODS: macrolide susceptibility, mutations and carriage of the macrolide resistance genes erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), erm(F) and mef(A) were determined using PCR assays and sequencing or hybridization of the PCR products. H. influenzae isolates were used as donors in conjugation studies with H. influenzae and Enterococcus faecalis recipients. Transconjugant susceptibility and the macrolide resistance genes carried were determined. RESULTS: of the 106 H. influenzae isolates, 27 were resistant and 78 intermediate resistant to azithromycin and/or erythromycin. All isolates carried one or more macrolide resistance gene(s), with the mef(A), erm(B) and erm(F) genes found in 74%, 31% and 29% of the isolates, respectively. None of the selected isolates had L4 or L22 mutations. Twenty-five donors, with various macrolide MICs, transferred macrolide resistance genes to H. influenzae Rd (3.5 × 10(-7)-1 × 10(-10)) and/or E. faecalis (1 × 10(-7)-1 × 10(-8)) recipients. The H. influenzae transconjugants were phenotypically resistant or intermediate to both macrolides while E. faecalis transconjugants were erythromycin resistant. CONCLUSIONS: this is the first identification of erm(A), erm(C) and erm(F) genes in H. influenzae or bacteria from CF patients and the first characterization of macrolide gene transfer from H. influenzae donors. The high level of H. influenzae macrolide gene carriage suggests that the use of azithromycin in the CF population may ultimately reduce the effectiveness of continued or repeated macrolide therapy.

Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. isolated from US West Coast public marine beaches.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (MRCoNS) from marine water and intertidal beach sand from public beaches in Washington State, USA. METHODS: Fifty-one staphylococci from Washington State beaches were characterized using antimicrobial susceptibility testing, carriage of acquired tetracycline and/or macrolide resistance genes, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, the BBL Crystal Gram-Positive ID System and/or 16S rRNA sequencing, coagulase test and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) for MRSA. RESULTS: Five multidrug-resistant MRSA SCCmec type I, of which three were MLST type ST45, one ST59 and one a new MLST type, ST1405, plus one susceptible non-typeable (NT) MRSA ST30 were characterized. Thirty-three MRCoNS isolates, representing 21 strains from 9 Staphylococcus spp., carried a range of SCCmec types [I (2), II (6), III (3), V (2), I/II (1) and NT (7)] and varied in their antibiotic susceptibility to other antibiotic classes and carriage of acquired tetracycline/macrolide resistance gene(s). MRSA and MRCoNS donors co-transferred tet(M) and erm(A) genes to an Enterococcus faecalis recipient at a frequency of 10(-8). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of MRSA and MRCoNS isolated from marine water and intertidal beach sand. The MLST types and antibiotic carriage of five MRSA isolates were similar to hospital MRSA isolates rather than US community-acquired MRSA isolates. Our results suggest that public marine beaches may be a reservoir for transmission of MRSA to beach visitors as well as an ecosystem for exchange of antibiotic resistance genes among staphylococci and related genera.

A novel transposon, Tn6009, composed of a Tn916 element linked with a Staphylococcus aureus mer operon.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to characterize a novel conjugative transposon Tn6009 composed of a Tn916 linked to a Staphylococcus aureus mer operon in representative Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria isolated in Nigeria and Portugal. METHODS: Eighty-three Gram-positive and 34 Gram-negative bacteria were screened for the presence of the Tn6009 using DNA-DNA hybridization, PCR, hybridization of PCR products, sequencing and mating experiments by established procedures. RESULTS: Forty-three oral and 23 urine Gram-negative and Gram-positive isolates carried the Tn6009. Sequencing was performed to verify the direct linkage between the mer resistance genes and the tet(M) gene. A Nigerian Klebsiella pneumoniae, isolated from a urinary tract infection patient, and one commensal isolate from each of the other Tn6009-positive genera, Serratia liquefaciens, Pseudomonas sp., Enterococcus sp. and Streptococcus sp. isolated from the oral and urine samples of healthy Portuguese children, were able to act as donors and conjugally transfer the Tn6009 to the Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2 recipient, resulting in tetracycline- and mercury-resistant E. faecalis transconjugants. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports a novel non-composite conjugative transposon Tn6009 containing a Tn916 element linked to an S. aureus mer operon carrying genes coding for inorganic mercury resistance (merA), an organic mercury resistance (merB), a regulatory protein (merR) and a mercury transporter (merT). This transposon was identified in 66 isolates from two Gram-positive and three Gram-negative genera and is the first transposon in the Tn916 family to carry the Gram-positive mer genes directly linked to the tet(M) gene.