Abstract:
Escherichia coli have been spread by contamination of milk through unhygienic handling of
dairy workers, and unsanitary milk utensils. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July
2021 to February 2022 at in and around Haramaya, Eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia. To assess
the occurrence of Escherichia coli from raw cow milk obtained from a dairy farm, assess the
source of raw cow milk contamination and the extent to which milking activities and milking
equipment are a cause of contamination and determine drug antimicrobial susceptibility
patterns of Escherichia coli isolates. A total of 210 samples, including milk handlers, milking
environment, and milk utensils swab (90), bulk milk (60), and udder milk (60) samples. To
evaluate their sanitary behavior and observation, a questionnaire was created and given to
dairy farm milk producers. After the samples were examined for the presence of 69 (32.9)
positive samples for Escherichia coli. The statistically significant differences in the
prevalence of E. coli in milk among the potential risk factors included the age of the cow
(p=0.002), body condition (p=0.014), farm size (p=0.000), udder cleaning (p=0.011), and
floor condition (p=0.019). All strains of E. coli were found to be sensitive to norfloxacin and
chloramphenicol according to the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns used in the current
investigation. All isolates of E. coli were not susceptible to spectinomycin, vancomycin, and
penicillin although kanamycin (33.3%), tetracycline (34.8%), and erythromycin (23.2%)
gained in this study may have been overused because of a lack of access to effective therapy
or use for minor illnesses. The present study concluded that the possible source of
contamination of milk obtained from swab was higher compared to that of bulk and udder
milk. Also, high antibiotic resistances were found in the swab samples. The study suggested
that more efforts are needed to improve milk hygiene and quality
