Here we describe the detection and characterisation of three isolates of vancomycin-resistant VanB-type
Enterococcus faecalis
. Sequence analysis suggested that these isolates harboured the
vanB1 gene. The isolates were susceptible to the majority of antimicrobial agents tested, with the exception of chloramphenicol, erythromycin and vancomycin, and showed distinct profiles of high-level resistance to aminoglycosides. Analysis of the clonal relatedness of the
vanB E. faecalis isolates showed similar pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of enterococcal strains carrying
vanB genes in Brazil.
