Title
Antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity of Escherichia coli isolated from common dairy products in the Lebanon
Source of Publication
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology
Abstract
In a recent study, bacteria have been isolated from popular Lebanese dairy products, which had been collected in the Beqaa Valley, in north-eastern Lebanon. The foods investigated were two cheeses (shankleesh and baladi) and a dried fermented mixture of yogurt and wheat grains (kishk). Bacterial colonies on McConkey and sorbitol-McConkey agar that showed the morphology of Escherichia coli were biochemically tested and then classified, using PCR-based assays, into the various strains of pathogenic and non-pathogenic E. coli. Some of the confirmed E. coli isolates were proven to be pathogenic, including two identified as E. coli O157:H7. When the pathogenic isolates were tested for their susceptibility to 10 different antibiotics (all commonly used, by clinicians and veterinarians, for the treatment of infections with Gram-negative bacteria), each tested isolate was found to be highly resistant to at least one antibiotic. It therefore appears that, in Lebanon, some popular dairy products pose a public-health hazard, acting as vehicles for the transmission of drug-resistant pathogens. © The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 2009.
Document Type
Article
First Page
39
Last Page
52
Publication Date
1-1-2009
DOI
10.1179/136485909X384965
Recommended Citation
Saleh, I.; Zouhairi, O.; Alwan, N.; Hawi, A.; Barbour, E.; and Harakeh, S., "Antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity of Escherichia coli isolated from common dairy products in the Lebanon" (2009). Scopus Indexed Articles. 2280.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/scopus-indexed-articles/2280