Transmission of infectious drug resistance from animals to man.

The antibiotic resistance patterns of coliforms in faecal specimens from pigs and their human contacts were studied. The ability of the resistant coliforms to transfer their resistance in vitro to antibiotic-sensitive recipients was examined. The results showed that pigs which had received antibiotics carried more multiply-resistant, R-factor bearing coliforms than pigs which had not been given antibiotics. Human contacts of the antibiotic-treated pigs had a higher incidence of antibiotic-resistant coliforms with R-factors than human contacts of pigs which had not been given antibiotics. It is concluded that antibiotic treatment of farm animals may lead to acquisition of antibiotic resistance by gut coliforms of man.