Occurrence and Antibiotic-resistant Profile of Escherichia coli in Pastoral Fresh Cow Milk Vended around Galadimawa, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

The quality and safety of fresh cow milk are of critical concern due to the potential presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The high nutritional content of milk makes it susceptible to contamination by various pathogenic bacteria and thus serves as a vector for pathogens in humans. This study aimed to assess the incidence, identification, and antibiotic susceptibility (antibiogram) profile of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in fresh cow milk sold in the Galadimawa area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria. The E. coli characterization in pastoral fresh cow milk samples was carried out using standard microbiological procedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed on Mueller-Hinton Agar using the disc diffusion method and compared with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards. The commercially available antibiotic discs used include Augmentin, Ceftriaxone, Ciprofloxacin and Gentamycin, among others. This study established the presence of E. coli in all the purchased milk samples. Furthermore, 38.5% of the total isolated E. coli exhibited gamma hemolysis while 61.5% exhibited beta hemolysis in blood. Also, all the E. coli isolates were resistant to Augmentin and 92.3% were susceptible to levofloxacin. The findings in this study indicated a significant prevalence of E. coli in the milk samples, underscoring the potential risk of milk-borne diseases in the community. Also, the high rate of antibiotic-resistant E. coli is a serious threat to public health, as it could result in difficult-to-treat bacterial infections.