[Antibiotic sensitivity of plague microbe strains from foreign countries]

The method of serial dilutions on the Hottinger agar was applied to comparative assay of antibiotic sensitivity in 50 strains of the plague microbe isolated abroad and in 5 strains isolated in the plague focus in the Central Caucasus. The antibiotics used in the assay were the following: streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, monomycin, kanamycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, ristomycin, lincomycin and polymyxin M. Irrespective of the origin, all the isolates were resistant to erythromycin, lincomycin and polymyxin M. The levels of the sensitivity to the other antibiotics were different. The data serve as a ground for the statement that there is no tendency to development of antibiotic resistance in the plague microbe in patients treated with high doses of the antibiotics and mainly streptomycin. Along with streptomycin, such antibiotics as gentamicin, tetracycline, doxycycline and kanamycin are useful in the therapy of plague and require further investigation.