Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal - Department of Pathobiology, Division of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Rajabi - Food Microbiology Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Moslem Papizadeh - Department of Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccine, Production and Research Complex, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
Samaneh Amiri - Department of Pathobiology, Division of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abbas Rahimi Foroushani - Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ahmad Naser - Department of Pathobiology, Division of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyedeh Zohre Mirbagheri - Department of Pathobiology, Division of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Masoumi-Asl - Department of Neonatal, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Parisa Torabi - Food Microbiology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehrnaz Mirza Babaei - Department of Pathobiology, Division of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance has been demonstrated in various food-borne pathogens. Beta-lactam antibiotics are among the first-line antimicrobials that are normally administered in case of gastrointestinal infections. However, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and some other members of Enterobacteriaceae have indicated broad resistance against such antibiotics thanks to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes. In this research, ۲۱۶ stool samples have been screened for ESBL-producing E. coli, using phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility tests. ESBL-producing E. coli isolates were further screened for the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes CTX-M, SHV, and TEM. Our isolation experiments resulted in ۱۱۱ E. coli isolates among which ۴۱ (۳۶.۹%) isolates were found as ESBL. Also, ۵۱.۲% of the above ESBL isolates harbored blaTEM. Furthermore, ۱۸ (۴۳.۹%) and ۲ (۴.۹%) of those ESBL isolates had blaCTX-M and blaSHV genes, respectively.  Our results revealed a detectable prevalence of ESBL E. coli in stool samples collected during food outbreaks. Results of such researches can guide how to control the distribution of drug-resistant pathogens in various environments. In this line, the considerable prevalence of ESBL E. coli seems to have originated from the wide administration of various beta-lactam antibiotics.

Beta-lactamase, Clavulanic acid, Drug-Resistant Pathogens, Food-borne infections, Gastroenteritis Symptoms, Klebsiella pneumonia