Abstract
The emergence of multidrug resistant E. coli isolated from animal and animal products become the main wary of food safety and public health authorities worldwide. The present study was undertaken to recognize the most important serovars and the antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of E. coli isolated from animals and animal products. Results showed that out of the 300 examined samples (75 cows mastitic milk, 77 buffalo's mastitic milk, 40 cattle meat, 43 buffaloes meat and 65 chicken meat), 60 isolates (20 %) were confirmed as E. coli based on cultural characteristic and biochemical identification. These isolates were further identified serologically, the obtained isolates were categorized as O26:H11 (4/22, 18%), O91:H21 (3/22, 13.6%), O111:H2 (2/22, 9%), O146:H21 (2/22, 9%), O1:H7 (1/22, 4.5%), O55:H7 (1/22, 4.5%), O119:H6 (1/22, 4.5%), O121:H7 (1/22, 4.5%), O78 (2/22, 9%), O125: H21 (2/22, 9%), O128 : H2 (1/22, 4.5%), O159 (1/22, 4.5%), and O44:H18 (1/22, 4.5%). The isolates were further tested for antimicrobial resistance against 14 commercial antibiotics. The obtained results showed that the isolates were resistant to Erythromycin (22/22, 100٪), Streptomycin (21/22, 95.5٪), Nalidixic acid (17/22, 80٪), Clindamycin (14/22, 63.6٪) and Sulphamethozole (11/22, 50٪). Lower resistance rate was observed in case of Cephalothin (9/22, 40.9٪), Tetracycline (7/22, 31.8٪), Ampicillin (6/22, 27.3٪), Colistin (5/22, 22.7٪), Ciprofloxacin (5/22, 22.7٪), Amikacin (4/22, 18.2٪), Levofloxacin (2/22, 9.1٪), Gentamycin (2/22, 9.1٪) and Meropenem was (1/22, 4.5٪). In conclusion, there a wide variation in E. coli serogroups isolated from different animals and animal products. These serogroups exhibited a high multidrug resistance index against the commonly used antibiotics. Therefore, regular monitoring of the potential sources of human infection with E. coli will help establish accurate preventive and curative measures.

Key words: E.coli, meat, milk, mastitis, antimicrobial resistance.