The present study aimed to explore for the first time the occurrence and the antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 isolates in camel meat in Egypt. Among the 110 camel meat samples examined using standardized microbiological techniques, 10 (9.1%) and 32 (29.1%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O55:H7, respectively. In total, 24 isolates were verified as E. coli O157:H7, while 102 isolates were confirmed serologically as E. coli O55:H7. Multiplex PCR revealed the existence of eaeA, stx1, stx2, and EHEC-hlyA among E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 isolates (n = 126) at various percentages. According to their resistance against 14 antibiotics, 16.7% and 83.3% of O157:H7 isolates and 8.6% and 76.5% of O55:H7 isolates were classified into extensively drug-resistant and multi-drug-resistant, respectively, whereas 29.4% and 22.2% of E. coli isolates were resistant to cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin, respectively. The study results emphasize that camel meat may be a vehicle for multi- and extensively drug-resistant E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 strains, indicating a potential threat to public health. Further studies based on the molecular evidence of the antimicrobial resistance genes and enrolling a larger number of samples are recommended for a better understanding of the antimicrobial resistance phenomenon of camel-meat-originating pathogenic E. coli strains.
Keywords: PCR; Shiga toxins; antimicrobial resistance; camel meat; virulence genes.