Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of indigenous lactobacilli isolated from curd and human milk samples.

The gut microbiota plays a vital role in host well-being and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have gained an overwhelming attention as health promoter. This perception has evolved from traditional dairy products to a money-spinning market of probiotics. The safety of probiotics is coupled to their intended use and LAB may act as pool of antimicrobial resistance genes that could be transferred to pathogens, either in food matrix or in gastrointestinal tract, which could be detrimental to host. This study evaluated the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of LAB isolated from curd (20) and human milk (11) samples. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined against 26 common antibiotics, following reference disc diffusion assay. A varied response in terms of susceptibility and resistance towards antibiotics was recorded. Among curd isolates, D7 (Lactobacillus plantarum) was the most resistant followed by D4, D8, D10 and D25. Among human milk isolates, HM-1 (L. casei) showed the highest resistance profile. All LAB isolates displayed high susceptibility pattern towards imipenem and meropenem. In general, high resistivity was exhibited by human milk isolates. The present study showed that antibiotic resistance is widespread among different lactobacilli, which may pose a food safety concern. Therefore, antibiotic sensitivity should be considered as a vital tool for safety assessment of probiotics.

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum infection in Punjab (India) and its association with diarrhea in neonatal dairy calves.

A prevalence study was contemplated to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in dairy farms in Punjab, India. The cryptosporidium oocysts were detected from 50 and 25.68% from 80 diarrheic and 74 non-diarrheic animals, respectively. Both shedding and intensity of shedding were significant in calves with diarrhea. The Cryptosporidium spp. appears to be common in dairy calves and an important contributor of calf diarrhea in the Punjab province. The prevalence of the infection peaked in young calves between 0 and 30 days in both the diarrheic and non-diarrheic groups (86.4 and 66.6%, respectively). The percentage distribution of positive samples, with reference to age groups of diarrheic and non-diarrheic animals was negatively correlated with increase in age. High mortality rate and case fatality rate of 35.2 and 44.4% were observed in young calves between 0 and 30 days of age.