Drug resistance of avian E. coli isolated from colibacillosis in Kordestan, Iran

The aim of this study was determination of drug resistance patterns of avian E.coli isolate from cases of colibacillosis in Kurdestan, Iran. Isolates of E.coli from pericarditis lesions (10 samples from each 20 farms) were isolated from broilers. The isolates were tested for their susceptibility to a panel of 12 antibacterial agents using the (Kirby-bauer) disc diffusion method. The drug susceptibility test showed that all isolates were resistant to tetracycline and erythromycin. More than 70% of the isolates were resistant to flumequine, doxycycline, colistin, sulfadiazinet, enrofloxacin, lincospectin, difloxacin, cousamix and trimethoprim. There were 18 drug resistance groups among 200 E.coli isolates. 79% of isolates belonged to more than one group, whereas the rest (21% of isolates) each isolate was belonged only to one group. The results of this study confirmed that high resistance of isolates to antibacterial agents mostly caused by non-controlled description can be dangerous for poultry industry as well as public health.