Département des Sciences et Technologies des Aliments (STA), Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Biotechnologie des Aliments, Université Nangui Abrogoua, Côte d’Ivoire
This study aimed to determine the characteristics of antibiotic resistance in strains of Escherichia coli isolated from lettuce. 3 vegetable crop production sites were randomly selected. A total of 60 lettuce samples were taken from 20 lettuce plants randomly collected per site. Escherichia coli strains were isolated on Rapid E.coli 2 medium and their identification confirmed on API 20E gallery. Then, an antibiotic susceptibility test using the disk diffusion method in Müller-Hinton agar medium was carried out on the identified strains. The results revealed relatively high resistance rates to amoxicillin (73.5%, 66.5% and 62.5% at sites 1, 2 and 3 respectively) and tetracycline (86% for site 1, 67% for site 2 and 79.5% for site 3). The proportions of expanded-spectrum betalactamase were 22.5% for site 1, 44.5% for site 2, and 56% for site 3. A total of 246 extended-spectrum betalactamase-producing strains were observed out of 600 strains isolated, i.e. 41%. The resistance genes BlaCTXM, BlaSHV and BlaTEM were observed in the respective proportions of 32.5%, 43.1% and 56.1% in extended-spectrum betalactamase-producing strains. These antibiotic-resistant strains of Escherichia coli could constitute a health hazard for humans, because lettuces are vegetables eaten raw.