This study was undertaken to assess the spectrum of drug resistance prevalent in Escherichia coli isolates from human and animal populations in Northern India. Three hundred and two isolates of Escherichia coli isolated from various infections of humans (47 from diarrhoea; 101 from urinary tract infection) and veterinary animals (17 from poultry septicaemia; 75 from bovine diarrhoea; 14 from ovine diarrhoea and 48 from equine metritis) were studied for their susceptibility to ampicillin, cephaloridine, amoxycillin, cloxacillin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. 63.2% of the isolates (37.7%, human; 25.5%, animal) were resistant to one or more drugs, of which about 41% isolates were multiresistant. Resistant isolates had a wide range of MIC values from 12 to 3200 mg/L, irrespective of origin. Most of the isolates (43.5%) were resistant to ampicillin (MIC greater than 16 mg/L) followed by oxytetracycline (MIC greater than 5 mg/L) (36.4%). Only 9.3% isolates were resistant to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (MIC greater than 21 mg/L). The E. coli isolated from animals tended to be resistant to fewer antibiotics than those isolated from man. 99% of the isolates from human urinary tract infection were resistant compared to only 48.9% of the isolates from diarrhoea. Most of the resistant isolates from animals were recovered from diarrhoea, followed by septicaemia and metritis. This study shows that a high frequency of multiresistant strains are prevalent in both human and animal bacterial populations of Northern India. Since the exchange of these strains among both populations is possible, they pose a great risk in both the selection and the spread of resistance.