Antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular detection of chloramphenicol and florfenicol resistance among Escherichia coli isolates from diseased chickens.

Seventy Escherichia coli isolates recovered from diseased chickens diagnosed with colibacillosis in Henan Province, China, between 2004 and 2005 were characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility profiles via a broth doubling dilution method. Overall, the isolates displayed resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (100%), oxytetracycline (100%), ampicillin (83%), enrofloxacin (83%), and ciprofloxacin (81%), respectively. Among the phenicols, resistance was approximately 79% and 29% for chloramphenicol and florfenicol, respectively. Molecular detection revealed that the incidence rates of the floR, cmlA, cat1, cat2 and cat3 were 29, 31, 16, 13, and 0%, respectively. Additionally, 10% of the isolates were positive for both floR and cmlA. As these antimicrobial agents may potentially induce cross-resistance between animal and human bacterial pathogens, their prudent use in veterinary medicine is highly recommended.