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Food vegetables in the farm or market settings are frequently contaminated by HLR-G enterococci, and these microorganisms could reach the human intestine through the food chain, if hygienic conditions are not followed. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Introduction: The role of the hospital environment as a reservoir of resistant bacteria in Tunisia has been poorly investigated; however, it could be responsible for the transmission of multidrug-resistant bacteria. The objective was to study the prevalence of Enterococcus in the environment of a Tunisian hospital and the antibiotic resistance phenotype/genotype in recovered isolates, with special reference to vancomycin resistance. Methodology: A total of 300 samples were taken (March-June, 2013) and inoculated in Slanetz-Bartley agar plates supplemented or not supplemented with 8 µg/mL of vancomycin. Antibiotic resistance genes were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The clonal relatedness of the vanA isolates was assessed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence testing (MLST). Results: Enterococci were recovered in 33.3% of tested samples inoculated in SB medium. E faecium was the most prevalent species, followed by E. faecalis and E. casseliflavus. Antimicrobial resistance genes detected were as follows (number of isolates): erm(B) (71), tet(M) (18), aph(3')-IIIa (27), ant(6)-Ia (15), cat(A) (4), and van(C2) (6). Vancomycin-resistant-enterococci (VRE) were recovered from 14 samples (4.7%), when tested in SB-VAN. The 14 VRE (one per positive sample) were identified as E. faecium and contained the van(A),erm(B), tet(M), ant(6)-Ia, and aph(3')-IIIa genes. Thirteen of the VRE strains were ascribed by PFGE and MLST to a novel clone (new ST910), and only one VRE strain was typed as ST80 included in CC17. Conclusions: The emergence and spread of new clones of VRE, especially in the hospital environment in this country, could become particularly problematic.