BACTERIAL STRAINS ISOLATED FROM EGGS AND THEIR RESISTANCE TO CURRENTLY USED ANTIBIOTICS - IS THERE A HEALTH-HAZARD FOR CONSUMERS

In order to study the putative transfer of antibiotic resistance from poultry to humans, hens' eggs were examined for the presence of variou s pathogens. Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Proteus and Ps eudomonas spp. were the most frequently isolated genera. Sensitivity t ests, performed with the Kirby-Bauer technique, showed the presence of resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (to penicillin-a, tetracyc line, erythromycin, clindamycin, cefalosporins, oxacillin, gentamycin, chloramphenicol and tobramycin), Enterococcus faecalis (to ampicillin , ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, gentamycin and tetracyclin), Escherichia coli (to tetracycline, erythromycin, ampicillin and cefalosporins), E nterobacter cloacae (to ampicillin, amoxycillin plus clavunalic acid, erythromycin and tetracycline), Pseudomonas stutzeri (to erythromycin and chlorampenicol) and Citrobacter freundii (to ampicillin, amoxycill in plus clavunalic acid, cefalosporins and co-trimoxazole). (C) 1996 E lsevier Science Ltd.