Molecular Characterization and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Vibrio Cholerae isolated from ornamental Gold Fish (Carassius Auratus)

The main objective of this study was to determine the presence and density as well as the antibiotic profile of Vibrio cholerae bacterium isolated from ornamental gold fish (Carassius auratus). A total of 175 ornamental gold fish (Carassius auratus) were analyzed for the presence of V. cholera. Infected and moribund gold fishes were collected during the period between January 2020 and October 2020 at a local breeding farm in Chennai, Tamilnadu. The obtained samples were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction-plating on TCBS agar methods, V. cholerae was detected in 55 samples and V. cholerae O139 was detected in 14 samples, with a density ranging between Ë‚3.5 to 85.0 MPN/g and Ë‚3.5 to 11.3 MPN/g respectively. The isolated V. cholerae was further subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test in Mueller-Hinton agar using disc diffusion method of 10 different antibiotics and the results interpreted as per the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. All the V. cholerae isolates evinces highly resistant to Penicillin, Amoxyclav, Kanamycin and Cefotaxime when compared with other antibiotics used in this study, The MAR index values of 0.2 to 1.0 indicates that the isolates were exposed to high risk sources in the environment. This study recommends aquarium fish may disseminate the bacteria in the aquatic environment and may transfer it to water birds that consume them. Therefore, aquarium fishes are the reservoirs of V. cholerae and may play a major role in its global dissemination