Assessing the antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from raw and pasteurized bovine milk in Hisar, Haryana

Abstract

The rise of multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) poses a significant and escalating concern for worldwide public health. This study aimed to examine the resistance to antibiotics in E. coli isolates derived from raw bovine milk and commercially pasteurized milk samples gathered from dairy farms situated in and around the Hisar district of Haryana. The susceptibility of the E. coli isolates to antimicrobials was assessed using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method to ascertain their resistance patterns. The E. coli isolates from raw milk were highly resistant to penicillin (95.65%), erythromycin (95.65%), gentamicin (56.52%), streptomycin (56.52%), amikacin (39.13%), and aztreonam (39.13%). Whereas E. coli isolated from pasteurized milk were highly resistant to ceftazidime (100%), erythromycin (100%), penicillin (84.62%) and cefotaxime (76.92%). Nearly, all the E. coli isolates isolated from both raw (95.65%) and pasteurized milk (92.31%) belonged to multi drug resistant bacteria. In order to reduce contamination from foodborne pathogens, there's a necessity for innovative, effective, and feasible food safety measures and monitoring techniques specifically targeting multi-drug resistant pathogens.