Enterococcus spp from the oral cavity and wounds of slaughterhouse workers in Baghdad city

The current study aims to identify and isolate Enterococcus species from Baghdad’s red meat slaughterhouse workers and detected some virulence genes of Enterococcus faecalis which are considered the most dangerous bacteria. 130 samples from the workers’ wounds and oral cavity swabs were collected between October 2023, and February  2024. In total, 27 isolates out of the 130 samples were isolated. The isolates consisting of 3 species were significant (* (P≤0.05): The dominant species was Enterococcus faecalis  12 (44.4%), Enterococcus faecium 8 (29.6%), and Enterococcus gallinarum 7 (25.9%). Also, the percentage of Enterococcus spp from oral cavity was 6 (35.2%) E.faecalis, 4 (23.5%) E.faecium, and 7 (41.1%) E.gallinarum. In addition, two species of Enterococcus were isolated from wounds E.faecalis 6 (60%) and E.faecium 4 (40%). After numerous laboratory tests, microscopic features, the VITEK 2 compact system, and traditional culture methods and biochemical examination were used to achieve differentiation and recognition, the overall percentage was (20.77%), of the cases were found to be infected. Molecular detection of Enterococcus faecalis using specific genes (16srRNA) with monoplex and multiplex PCR of the virulence genes (cylA, esp, gelE, and asa1), The most prevalent virulence genes in E. faecalis isolates were gelE(100%), esp (75%), cylA (41.6%), and  asa1 was (0%). This study is the first study in Iraq to isolate Enterococci from the oral cavity and wounds contaminated with this bacteria, as they are in direct contact with slaughtered carcasses contaminated with this bacterium. An increase in the virulence factor of Enterococcus faecalis was observed, especially gelE(100%) and esp (75%), which are responsible for causing pathogenicity.