<i>In vitro</i> antibacterial activity of the volatile oil of <i>Nigella sativa</i> seeds against multiple drug‐resistant isolates of <i>Shigella</i> spp. and isolates of <i>Vibrio cholerae</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i>

Abstract The antibacterial activity of the volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds was studied against 37 isolates of Shigella dysenteriae 1, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei and Shigella boydii and 10 strains of Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli. Most of the strains were clinically resistant to ampicillin, co‐trimoxazole and tetracycline. All the strains tested showed promising sensitivity to the volatile oil. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the volatile oil for Shigella , Vibrio and Escherichia strains tested was between 50–400 μg/mL.