Motility of enterococci isolated from the urinary tract and from other sources.

The identity and motility of enterococci isolated as urinary pathogens were compared with those of strains from other sources. The majority of isolates from all sources proved to be Streptococcus faecalis of S. faecium but eight of 117 urinary strains and seven of 127 non-urinary strains belonged to a group intermediate between S. faecium. Of the seven "intermediate" strains from non-urinary sources, four were motile. None of the urinary enterococci was motile. The results do not indicate that urinary enterococci are more likely to be motile than are non-urinary strains.