Detection and Analysis of Veterinary Drug Residues in Milk from the Valley of Kashmir

Background: Irrational and indiscriminate use of drugs (antibiotics and anthelmintics) leads to increased occurrence of drug residues in animal foods like milk causing deleterious effects on the health and environment. It leads to the increased emergence of multi drug resistant (MDR) microbes and aggravates the problem of antimicrobial and anthelmitic resistance. Methods: A study was conducted in 2021 to detect and analyze the presence of residues of antibiotics and anthelmintics in milk procured from the markets of Kashmir Valley. A total of 60 samples collected from different sources were randomly taken and analyzed for drug residues using the technique of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Result: The study revealed that 6.67% samples of milk were positive for Ivermectin while 10% of the overall samples of milk were detected to be positive for Fenbendazole. However none of the milk sample studied was found to be positive for Oxytetracycline, Tetracycline, Enrofloxacin and Ceftriaxone antibiotic residues.