Susceptibility to vancomycin of enterococci isolated from dairy products

The antibiotic vancomycin is often used in clinical therapy against multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Twenty strains of enterococci, either Enterococcus faecium or Ent. faecalis, isolated from different cheeses were tested for resistance to vancomycin in liquid medium. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from less than 1 to 4 micrograms ml -1. A 399 bp intragenic fragment of the vanA gene was not observed after amplification of total DNA of the strains. It seems, therefore, that resistance to vancomycin, which is a common trait for enterococci of nosocomial origin, is not widespread among dairy isolates.