Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of lactic acid bacteria isolated from ergo, a traditional Ethiopian fermented milk, Jimma, south west Ethiopia

Currently, the efficacies of antimicrobials have been threatened due to the development of resistance to antibiotics by some microorganisms. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fermented products, may act as reservoir of antimicrobial resistance-genes that could be transferred to pathogens, either in the food matrix or in the gastrointestinal tract. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current resistance or susceptibility patterns of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Ergo served in Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia. A total of 57 isolates of LAB were identified to genus level following standard microbiological techniques. In this study, all 57 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented Ergo samples were evaluated for their antimicrobial resistance patterns. A total of six pre-determined antibiotic discs (Oxoid) were used and the sensitivity tests were done following the modified standard Kirby –Bauer procedure. All the 57 tested lactic acid bacteria isolates were sensitive to Pencillin G (Pen, 10units), and Erythromycin (Ery, 15 μg). The most frequent resistance was noticed for methicillin (Met) (89.5%), followed by resistance to Norfloxacine (Nx) (80%). More than half of the isolates (54.38%) were resistant to two antimicrobials (Nx/Met), followed by resistance to only Methicillin (17.5%) and only Norfloxacin (15.8%). Although with low frequencies, a total of two multiple drug resistance (MDR) patterns (Ak/Nx/Met, and Tet/Ak/Nx/Met) were observed. In general, the isolates of LAB were not found reservoirs for transferable resistance genes for Penicillin G and Erythromycin as indicated by the sensitivity of isolates. Therefore, LAB isolated from traditional Ethiopian fermented food could still be used for the enhancement of consumer’s health with periodic monitoring of the existing level of drug resistance.