Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli strains isolated from food, animals and humans in Germany.

In human medicine, increasing resistance in Escherichia coli strains causes therapeutic problems and is partly attributed to the selection pressure in veterinary medicine. The resistance proportions (RP) of E. coli isolates obtained in 2002/2003 from animals (n=110) and from food originating from animals (n=42) were highest for tetracyclines (57%), ampicillin (38%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (37%). None of the strains tested positive for ESBL by VITEK. Comparison of Escherichia coli strains revealed higher RP in samples from humans for strains resistant to piperacillin, ampicillin/sulbactam and second generation quinolones, whereas E. coli strains originating from animals showed a higher resistance proportion to tetracycline.