粪肠球菌又称粪链球菌，是肠球菌属第Ⅱ群中的细菌。粪肠球菌是一种革兰氏阳性菌，能在各种环境中生存，对外界环境抵抗力较一般细菌强。粪肠球菌尤其对免疫力低下的个体（如老年人、婴儿和免疫系统较弱的人群）造成影响，与其相关的感染包括菌血症、心内膜炎、尿路感染、腹腔内感染、脑膜炎、手术部位以及与医疗器械相关感染。
粪肠球菌虽然是医院获得性感染的重要病原菌，但同时也广泛存在于蔬菜、乳制品、鱼类和肉类等多种食品中，可能构成人类感染的潜在传播途径。多项研究证实，该菌可通过被污染的食物实现从动物到人的跨物种传播。尽管粪肠球菌是一种相对温和的病原体，但其能够形成生物膜，获得耐药性移动元件（MGEs），容易是对万古霉素等药物产生抗性，为该病的治疗造成挑战。此外，因肠球菌固有的耐药机制影响，针对其感染的治疗措施选择有限。
多种毒力因子可通过促进定殖和侵袭宿主组织、穿越上皮细胞以及逃逸宿主免疫应答等机制增强粪肠球菌菌株的致病性。与致病性肠球菌致病株相关的主要毒力因子包括enterococcal surface proteins（Esp）、 hyaluronidase（Hyl）、aggregation substance（AS）、gelatinase（gelE）和cytolysin（Cyl）。除携带多种毒力因子和耐药基因外， 粪肠球菌还擅长通过水平基因转移实现这些基因的交换与传递。
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