Escherichia coli, UTI, Antimicrobial resistance, Virulence genesin Erbil City, Iraq

his study investigated the antimicrobial resistance patterns and virulence genes of uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Erbil City, Iraq. A total of 25 clinical isolates were identified and confirmed by PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated using the disk diffusion method against five commonly used antibiotics. The prevalence of the virulence genes (sat, usp, hlyA, and cnf) was determined by PCR. The isolates showed high resistance to ampicillin (80%), while the highest prevalence of virulence genes was observed for sat (96%) and usp (96%), followed by hlyA (92%), whereas cnf was not detected. These findings provide valuable information on antimicrobial resistance and virulence characteristics of uropathogenic E. coli in Erbil City and may contribute to improved diagnosis, treatment, and infection control strategie