title: Antimicrobial resistance levels amongst staphylococci isolated from clinical cases of bovine mastitis in Kosovo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mastitis is one of the most frequent and costly disease in cattle. We studied milk samples from cattle with mastitis from farms in Kosovo to identify mastitis-causing pathogens and possible effective antibiotics. Our ultimate goal is to help implement adequate antibiotic management and treatment practices in Kosovo METHODOLOGY: A total of 152 milk samples were collected from cows with clinical mastitis from different farms in Kosovo. After identification of microorganisms, antibiotic susceptibility and the occurrence of enterotoxins was investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Staphylococci were found in 89 samples, of which 58 were coagulase negative and 31 coagulase positive. S. aureus was isolated from 27 samples, S. epidermidis from 25, and S. chromogenes from 15, while other species of staphylococci were isolated from the remaining 22 isolates. Interestingly, the bacterial diversity was different between cows in different periods of lactation and among different breeds. Most of the isolates (76/89) were resistant to two or more antibiotics. The highest resistance was to penicillin and ampicillin (> 65%), followed by tetracycline, oxacillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol (> 23%), and less than 3% to erythromycin. Of the 89 isolates, 40 produced enterotoxins that were most frequently typed as A and C.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We detected human bacterial pathogens in the cultures of milk samples from cows with mastitis. The isolates demonstrated resistance to two or more antibiotics, some of which are frequently used to treat animal and human infections. We recommend increased control and more stringent use of antibiotics in veterinary as well as human medicine.
authors: Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. ibrahim.mehmeti@nmbu.no.
authors: Ibrahim
authors: I
authors: Mehmeti
authors: Behlul
authors: B
authors: Behluli
authors: Mergim
authors: M
authors: Mestani
authors: Arsim
authors: A
authors: Ademi
authors: Ingolf F
authors: IF
authors: Nes
authors: Dzung B
authors: DB
authors: Diep
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002417:Cattle; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D063826:Kosovo; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004768:Enterotoxins