Fig. 2.

Dendrogram based on AFLP patterns of all VRE strains identified during the outbreak. Unrelated E. faecium and E. faecalis strains were included in the analysis as outgroup. Hierarchical clustering of AFLP types was performed using unweighted pair-grouping. The cut-off value for identical strains was 90% relative similarity (Bionumerics, Applied Maths, Belgium). For the outbreak strain (in green), the relative similarity was 92%. The relative similarity for S15, S17, and S18 was 89% compared to the outbreak strain. However, this value was deemed to be below 90% due to issues with signal to noise ratios and these three strains were therefore also considered part of the outbreak, based on their AFLP patterns. Unrelated isolates U02–1 and U03 (blue) clustered together with 97% similarity to each other