{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]],"date-time":"2026-04-21T02:30:04Z","timestamp":1776738604115,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,21]],"date-time":"2024-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Enterococcus<\/jats:italic> are considered an important genus in terms of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs), which means that their characterization regarding resistance and virulence profiles in the hospital environment is of extreme importance. This article addresses this issue through the characterization of enterococci collected from a Veterinary Biological Isolation and Containment Unit (BICU).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 73 isolates, collected from different surfaces of a Veterinary BICU, were identified as <jats:italic>Enterococcus<\/jats:italic> through PCR at species level, after which 34 isolates were selected as representatives using (GTG)<jats:sub>5<\/jats:sub> fingerprinting. These isolates were further characterized phenotypically in terms of antimicrobial resistance through disk diffusion and of virulence factors\u2019 expression.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The majority of the enterococci isolated presented resistance to erythromycin (79.4%), ampicillin (73.5%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (70.6%), tetracycline (67.6%), ciprofloxacin (58.8%) and levofloxacin (50.0%), and were able to produce hemolysin (88.2%) and biofilm (82.3%). Furthermore, in terms of pathogenicity, three isolates (8.8%) were classified as high threats and two (5.9%) as moderate threats.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The degree of resistance, production of virulence factors and the percentage of isolates classified as moderate or high threat means that a constant vigilance of such strains in veterinary units, but also in clinics and hospitals in general, is an important tool in terms of infection prevention and consequent reduction of HAIs.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2024.1458069","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,21]],"date-time":"2024-10-21T05:10:59Z","timestamp":1729487459000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Pathogenicity potential of enterococci isolated from a Veterinary Biological Isolation and Containment Unit"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Catarina","family":"Geraldes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Catarina","family":"Ara\u00fajo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ana Catarina","family":"Pinheiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"M\u00f3nica","family":"Afonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sandra","family":"Carapeto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Cl\u00e1udia","family":"Verdial","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Eva","family":"Cunha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Raquel","family":"Abreu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Tavares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"L\u00e9lia","family":"Chambel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Solange","family":"Gil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Manuela","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","article-title":"Healthcare-associated infections acquired in intensive care units - annual epidemiological report for 2020","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e00058","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00058-18","article-title":"The Enterococcus: a model of adaptability to its environment","volume":"32","author":"Garc\u00eda-Solache","year":"2019","journal-title":"Clin Microbiol Rev"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.4161\/viru.21282","article-title":"Intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms in Enterococcus","volume":"3","author":"Hollenbeck","year":"2012","journal-title":"Virulence"},{"key":"ref5","first-page":"123","article-title":"Enterococcal infection - treatment and antibiotic resistance. 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