The antibiotic sensitivity patterns of Bacillus anthracis isolated from the Kruger National Park

Forty-four isolates of Bacillus anthracis made from carcasses and soil in different localities of an endemic anthrax area in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, were tested by standard disc diffusion for their susceptibility to 18 different antibiotics. These were ampicillin, penicillin G, sulphatriad, streptomycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim, sulphamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, methicillin, tetracycline (2 different concentrations), novobiocin, cefotaxime, netilmicin, cefamandole and cefoxitin. All the isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline, methicillin and netilmicin. More than 90% of the isolates were sensitive to clindamycin, gentamicin and cefoxitin, whereas only 84.1% of the isolates were sensitive to penicillin G, 86.4% to novobiocin and 68.18% to cefamandole. Complete resistance in 100% of the isolates was encountered with trimethoprim and sulphamethoxazole, with 95.45% for sulphatriad. Moderate sensitivity occurred with penicillin G (15.9% of the isolates), clindamycin (6.8%), novobiocin (13.6%), fusidic acid (84.1%), cefotaxime (100%), cefamandole (31.8%) and cefoxitin (6.8%). The relevance of the findings to the therapeutic uses of different types of antibiotic in human clinical cases referred to in the literature is discussed.