Isolation of Enterococcus raffinosus from an ostrich chick with diarrhoea

Enterococci have been incriminated as a cause of opportunistic infections in humans and different animal species. The glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus raffinosus has been reported as an emerging pathogen in humans recently, but the importance of E. raffinosus in animals is largely unknown. The present manuscript appears to be the first report of isolation of E. raffinosus from animal source; more importantly, the isolated organism showed resistance to vancomycin in conventional antibiotic resistance evaluation methods. The organism was isolated from a 35-day-old ostrich chick suffering from diarrhoea in pure culture. Public health and clinical significance of this emerging pathogen need further attention in veterinary and human medicine.