This research was conducted using 50 samples of popular traditional cheeses and 160 enterococcal clinical isolates. Phenotypic and genotypic methods used for identification of enterococci. Then, the incidences of antibacterial resistance and virulence traits were investigated. In total, 165 E. faecalis and 43 E. faecium obtained from traditional cheeses and different clinical isolates were analyzed in the study. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed 175(84.1%) isolates with multi-drug resistance (MDR) patterns, which was more common among clinical sources. The predominant virulence profile, including gelE, asa1 and cpd was detected within 47 (22.6%) of the MDR isolates. Our results showed that traditional cheeses and clinical E. faecalis isolates have distinct patterns of virulence traits. The identified enterococci with antibiotic resistance and associated virulence factors, could provide a potential risk to the public health.
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; E. faecalis; E. faecium; PCR; Traditional cheese; Virulence factors.