COMPARISON BETWEEN TETRACYCLINE RESISTANT ENTEROCOCCI ISOLATED FROM SHEEP AND TYPICAL CHEESE IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF “PARCO NAZIONALE DEI MONTI SIBILLINI”

Enterococci were isolated from sheep faeces and cheese taken in the «Parco nazionale dei monti Sibillini»; then they were submitted to the antibiotic susceptibility test and to the PCR reaction to amplify tet M and tet O genes. The analysis showed that 23,64% of Enterococci from sheep and 30,77% from cheese were resistant to tetracycline; 14 strains from sheep and 5 from cheese contained tet M and tet O genes as genetic determinants of resistance. These results allow to say that resistant bacteria and genes have the possibility to be transferred from animals to derived food; therefore reducing antibiotic use in farm animals could affect the amount of resistant microorganisms that can reach human beings using this way of diffusion.