Antibiotic sensitivity of Vibrio cholerae 01 isolated from environmental objects

The sensitivity of 252 Vibrio cholerae-O1 strains isolated from environmental objects to antibiotics of various groups was assayed by the method of serial dilutions on solid media. The biological characteristics of the isolates are presented. The Vibrio cholerae isolates with serological variation were the most frequent (36.6 per cent), so are the cultures detected by their sensitivity to the specific phages (87.5 per cent). It was found that changes in some biological properties of the strains did not coincide with the changes in the antibiotic sensitivity. The isolates were highly sensitive to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, erythromycin and rifampicin and less sensitive to novobiocin and the other aminoglycosides. The sensitivity to the beta-lactams was the lowest. The resistance determinants were detected in single strains (6.3 per cent), the kanamycin and novobiocin resistance determinants being detected in 15 out of the 16 strains tested. The study showed that the cultures of Vibrio cholerae-O1 isolated from the environmental objects generally preserved their sensitivity to the diverse group antibiotics.