Emergence of extensively drug-resistant Aeromonas hydrophila complex isolated from wild Mugil cephalus (striped mullet) and Mediterranean seawater

Vet World Vol.15 January-2022 Article-8

Research Article

Veterinary World, 15(1): 55-64

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.55-64

Hamza Mohamed Eid¹, Heba Sayed El-Mahallawy², Amany Mahmoud Shalaby³, Hassnaa Mahmoud Elsheshtawy⁴, Mera Mohamed Shetewy⁵, and Nada Hussein Eidaroos¹

1. Department of Bacteriology, Immunology, and Mycology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
2. Department of Animal Hygiene, Zoonoses, and Animal Behaviour and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
3. Department of Food Hygiene, Animal Health Research Institute, Port Said Branch, Port Said, Egypt.
4. Department of Fish Diseases and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
5. Veterinarian, Port Said, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Antibiotic resistance has been a progressively documented problem, resulting in treatment failure in humans and animals. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Aeromonas spp. in wild Mugil cephalus and its surrounding seawater along the coastal road of Port Said, Egypt.

Materials and Methods: Specimens were examined bacteriologically, confirmed biochemically, and tested for their sensitivity against 11 antimicrobial agents. Molecular confirmation of the obtained isolates by 16S rRNA was performed, followed by the detection of antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes.

Results: Aeromonas spp. was recovered from fish (44%) and water samples (36%). A. hydrophila was the most prevalent identified strain, followed by Aeromonas sobria, Aeromonas caviae, and Aeromonas schubertii. Moreover, 90% of the tested isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR), while 26.67% were XDR. Tested isolates were resistant to β-lactams and sulfonamides (100%), oxytetracycline (90%), and streptomycin (62.22%) but completely susceptible to cefotaxime. XDR isolates successfully amplified resistance genes (blaTEM, sul1, and tetA(A)) but not the (aadA1) gene, although there was phenotypic resistance to streptomycin on plates. All XDR isolates carry the cytotoxic enterotoxin gene (act), but alt gene was detected in only one isolate (12.5%).

Conclusion: Data in this study provide a recent update and highlight the role of wild mullet and seawater as reservoirs for MDR and XDR Aeromonas spp. that may pose a risk to humans as food-borne infection or following direct contact. Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila complex, antimicrobial resistance, Mugil cephalus, resistance genes, Seawater, virulence genes.

Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila complex, antimicrobial resistance, Mugil cephalus, resistance genes, Seawater, virulence genes.

How to cite this article: Eid HM, El-Mahallawy HS, Shalaby AM, Elsheshtawy HM, Shetewy MM, Eidaroos NH (2022) Emergence of extensively drug-resistant Aeromonas hydrophila complex isolated from wild Mugil cephalus (stripped mullet) and Mediterranean seawater, Veterinary World, 15(1): 55-64.

Received: 23-09-2021 Accepted: 14-12-2021 Published online: 18-01-2022

Corresponding author: Heba Sayed El-Mahallawy E-mail: dr_ba1012_2@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.55-64

Copyright: Eid, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.