An official website of the United States government.
<OL> <LI> Identify the antimicrobial resistance genes present within the gram-positive bacterial flora of poultry. <LI>Characterize and compare the resident enterococci and gram-positive enteric bacteria recovered from poultry to enterococci from humans as to their genetic relatedness, drug susceptibility, and antmicrobial resistance genes.
There is little scientific data available to determine the use of growth use of growth promoter antimicrobials on antimicrobial resistance of human enterocicci. We will deterime whether the use of poultry growth promoters will result in the development of antimicrobial resistance among the benign intestinal flora of the chicken and whether these flora are then present on the chicken meat intended for human consumption. We will also focus on whether human enterocicci and avian enterococci are genetically related and/or possess similar antimicrobial resistance determinants.