Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli strains isolated from pigs at Spanish slaughterhouses

Antimicrobial resistance can make the efficient treatment of bacterial infe ctions in humans and animals more difficult. Antimicrobial use in food anim als may be one of the factors contributing to resistance. The Spanish surve illance network VAV has established a baseline of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli strains from healthy pigs. Minimum inhibitory concentra tion and patterns of resistance to antimicrobials used in animals and human s were determined for 205 faecal strains isolated in a sampling frame of fo ur slaughterhouses in Spain from 220 pigs in 1998. Higher levels of resista nce were seen against antimicrobial agents authorised for use in food anima ls especially tetracycline, sulphonamides, trimethoprim and amoxycillin. Al l isolates were susceptible to antimicrobials employed mainly in humans suc h as ceftazidime, cefotaxime, imipenem, aztreonam and amikacin. (C) 2000 El sevier Science B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights r eserved.