Incidence of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia Coli in Iraqi Milk Products

The antimicrobial sensitivity of 430 Escherichia coli strains isolated from three types of locally processed Iraqi milk products was determined. Four hundred and one (93.2%) isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents, and only 29 (6.7%) isolates were sensitive to all 12 agents tested. The incidence of resistant E. coli was 95.5%, 90.4% and 84.4% in isolates from cheese, kishfa, and gaymer, respectively. There was no significant difference in resistance among E. coli strains from various milk products. Overall, resistance to penicillin (92.3%), erythromycin (75.8%), cephaloridine (71.9%), ampicillin (57.7%), and tetracycline (37%) was most frequent, whereas isolates were least resistant to kanamycin (7.2%), chloramphenicol (8.1%), nalidixic acid (8.6%), gentamycin (9%), streptomycin (12.5%), trimethoprim (14%), and colistin (18%). The predominant antimicrobial resistance pattern was penicillin, ampicillin, cephaloridine, and erythromycin detected in 77 (18%). The high resistance of E. coli strains isolated from product samples was suggestive of misuse of these drugs in Iraq.