Drug Resistance and Virulence Traits of Acinetobacter Baumannii Isolated from Milk and Local Cheese in Al-Diwanyah /Iraq

Acinetobacter baumannii is a hazardous opportunistic bacterium that can thrive in a variety of settings, including food matrices, and acquire antibiotic resistance. This study was the first to successfully isolate this bacterium from samples of raw milk and cheese made locally.

They were subjected to microbiological tests. The isolates were first sub-cultured on selective media (Chrom agar and Gram staining) and subsequently identified more firmly with the VITEK 2 system, which produced a species identification certainty level at 99%,

The results indicated that the overall prevalence rate of the bacterium was 4.5%, but showed a higher occurrence in their samples in cheese (3%) than in milk (6%). The highest contamination rates in the area of the study were observed in the Al-Daghara region in Al-Diwanyah at the molecular level,

The isolates possessed full spectrum of virulence genes such as ompA and csuE associated with biofilm formation and host cell attachment. Health them with key antibiotic resistance genes such as blaOXA-51 and adeA, this suggests these isolates a multi drug-resistant (MDR) strain. Genomic analysis and DNA sequencing revealed high genetic similarity, up to 99.70% identical local isolates and pathogenic strains from all over the world published in GenBank (NCBI). These suggest that these bacteria are not only transients pollutants, but also developed strains which colonised and populate the local food environment. The data from this study demonstrates that the contamination of A. baumannii in traditional dairy products presents a serious public health hazard due to its high antibiotic resistance and virulence arsenal. Health restriction and control over the production and management of these products is necessary to minimize the risk of the transfer of resistant strains to human via the food chain.