Prevalence of different serotypes of Escherichia coli in Buffalo meat and its product

Escherichia coli of various serotypes has emerged to be an important agent of food borne diseases ranging from uncomplicated diarrhoea to haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome in humans. The prevalence of different serotypes of E.coli was assessed in buffalo meat and its products. A total of 348 samples comprising of 153 raw buffalo meat, 99 buffalo meat kababs and 96 buffalo shami kababs were analyzed, of which 87 (25%) were positive for E. coli. Serotyping of these isolates revealed the presence of 32 different serotypes. E. coli O33 (34.37%) followed by O26 (25%) were predominant serotypes. Interestingly, 3 strains of E.coli O157 isolates were also recorded. In-vitro antibiogram of these E.coli strains revealed that the isolates were highly sensitive to ciprofloxacin followed by gentamicin, streptomycin and co-trimoxazole whereas resistant to colistin, ampicillin and tetracycline.