ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI ISOLATES FROM THE FECAL FLORA OF VETERINARIANS WITH DIFFERENT PROFESSIONAL SPECIALTIES

The prevalence of antibiotic resistant Escherichia roll isolates from faecal samples from 110 veterinarians with different specialties (predominantly working with cattle, swine, poultry, or small animals or working as a nonpractitioner, e.g. in government or industry) was investigated. In 22% and 13% of the veterinarians E. coli isolates showed a high level of resistance to oxytetracycline and ampicillin respectively, A significantly higher percentagen of cattle practitioners had a high level of antibiotic resistance against ampicillin than did swine practitioners. Furthermore, a significantly higher percentage of poultry practitioners had a high level of antibiotic resistance against oxytetracycline than did swine practitioners and non-practitioners. A significantly higher percentage of practitioners recently (within last 6 months) used antibiotics for personal intake than did the group of non-practitioners. There was no evidence for a relationship between personal intake of antibiotics and the occurrence of a high level of resistance to ampicillin or oxytetracycline. The prevalence of E. coli isolates, that were resistant to several antibiotics was highest in cattle and poultry practitioners and the lowest in swine practitioners. A possible explanation for the observed differences in high level resistance to oxytetracycline and ampicillin between veterinary specialty groups is a difference in exposure to antibiotics during practice.