Abstract:Escherichia coli strains were isolated from meat products, vegetables, dairy products, and instant foods in farmers markets and supermarkets of Urumqi city, Shihezi city, and Kuitun city of Xinjiang, and 63 E. coli strains were isolated from 198 food samples. Drug resistances to 17 antibiotics in 63 E. coli strains were determined using the Kirby-Bauer (K-B) method, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to measure nine drug-resistance genes. The results indicated that 63 E. coli strains showed high resistance to tetracycline (44.44%), ampicillin (39.68%), and nalidixic acid (38.10%), and all test isolates showed the highest susceptibility to imipenem (0.00%). Isolates from meat products and vegetables showed the highest drug resistance to tetracycline (57.14% and 52.94%, respectively), isolates from dairy products showed the highest drug resistance to ampicillin (26.67%), and isolates from instant foods were susceptible to 17 antibiotics. The isolates from Urumqi, Shihezi, and Kuitun exhibited the highest resistance to tetracycline (65.00%, 40.00%, and 32.14%, respectively). PCR results showed that among the resistant strains, the detection rate for the sul2 gene was the highest (75.00%), and the detection rate for the aadB gene was lowest (19.23%). The multiple-antibiotic-resistant and triple-antibiotic isolates accounted for 63.49% and 39.68% of the total isolates, respectively. Foodborne E. coli in Xinjiang showed a high level of resistance to common antibiotics.
