Detection and Antibiogram Profile of Enterococcus Species from Local Cheese Sample within Ikare and Akungba Akoko, Ondo State Nigeria

Enterococci are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals and are increasingly recognized as significant human pathogens and capable of causing major therapeutic challenges. The aim of this study was to isolate, identify and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Enterococcus species in two local cheese sample collected from Akungba and Ikare. The isolation of Enterococcus was carried out using standard culture-based techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the Enterococcus species was determined using disk diffusion method. A total number of 93 presumptive Enterococcus species were recovered from forty two different samples over a period of three months. The bacterial count observed on the Bile Aesculin agar ranged from 1.5x104 cfu/ml to 4.6x104 cfu/ml with Akungba sample having the highest bacterial load of 4.6x104 cfu/ml. The Morphology and biochemical characteristics of suspected Enterococcus spp. isolated from the cheese sample revealed Enterococci feacalis as the isolated bacteria. The isolated Enterococcus species were tested against a panel of six antibiotics which include Penicillin G, Vancomycin, Tetracycline, Nitrofurantoin, Ciprofloxacin and Imipenem. It was observed that the isolates were susceptible to tetracycline, imipinem and ciprofloxacin while they are resistant to ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. The prevalence of Enterococci was confirmed with Enterococcus feacium and Enterococcus faecalis as the predominant species isolated in both cheese sample. The ability of Enterococcus species to survive a range of adverse environments allows multiple routes of cross-contamination of Enterococci in causing human disease, including those from food. Overall, greater understanding of the ability of Enterococcus species to survive stresses, of virulence traits and especially of increasing antibiotic resistance, is needed in order to fully appreciate the complexity of Enterococcus species in causing disease.