Objective:
Enterobacter cowanii
is a genus of common gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped,non-spore-forming bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae family. This organism can be potentially a powdered
infant milk formula-borne opportunistic pathogen. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify
E. cowanii from consumed powdered infant formula milk (PIF) in intensive care units (NICU) and to determine
antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of this bacterium.
Methods:
E. cowanii was isolated according to FDA method in 125 samples of PIF milk purchased from drug
stores between Jun 2011 and March 2012. For final confirmation, biochemical tests embedded in API-20E
system were used. The drug susceptibility test was performed using the disc diffusion method according to
CLSI recommendations.
Findings:
Out of the 125 PIF samples investigated, 4 (3.2%) samples were positive for
E. cowanii. All four
isolates from PIF samples were uniformly susceptible to imipenem, meropenem, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin,
and colistin. Fifty percent of isolates were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin, and cotrimoxazole
Conclusion:
Analysis of the results indicated that complementary studies are necessary to clarify the possible
role of
E. cowanii as a food contaminant, in common NICU infections and high risk groups including persons
with underlying disease and immunocompromised individuals.
