title: Frequency of antimicrobial resistance and plasmid profiles of Bacillus cereus strains isolated from milk.
abstract: Plasmid profile analysis and susceptibility to eight commonly used antimicrobial agents was done on sixty Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) strains isolated from milk. About seventy two percent (71.7%) of the isolates contained plasmids. The number of plasmids per isolate ranged between 1 and 5, while plasmid sizes ranged between 60 and 0.1 megadaltons (Mda). All isolates were resistant to ampicillin with a relatively high rate of resistance to cotrimoxazole and sulphamethoxazole. The isolates showed a low frequency of resistance to the other antimicrobial agents, with all of them being susceptible to streptomycin. Approximately ninety one (90.7%) percent of the isolates showed multiple resistance. There was no apparent relationship between carriage of plasmids and drug resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Ombui
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mathenge
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kimotho
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Macharia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nduhiu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003612:Dairying; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D007630:Kenya; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011815:R Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics