High prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus isolated from fish samples in India

Antibiotic resistance, driven by inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents for fish farming, is an expanding global health threat. Demand of animal protein for human consumption is entraining at remarkable pace which in turn, upturning the non-judicial use of life-saving drugs in these modern animal production practices at an incautious rate. Hence, study was devised to observe the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern of human prominence bacteria, against drugs of critically and highly importance of both human and veterinary medicine, circulating over the fish farming in India. One hundred sixty fish faecal samples were obtained from distinct geographical locales of Rajasthan, India. Overall, 202 isolates comprising of Escherichia coli (81, 51%), Salmonella spp. (72, 45%) and Staphylococcus aureus (49, 31%) were isolated to screen for resistance. Antimicrobial resistance has been analysed using broth microdilution method. In case of E. coli and Salmonella spp., highest resistance (>95%) was observed against streptomycin while for S. aureus, it was observed against trimethoprim, along with high resistance to other antibiotics. Majority of the isolates were found to be resistant to more than three antibiotics implying multi-drug resistance (>89%) relative to the critical and highly important antibiotics. The high AMR is a reflection of misuse of these agents in the fish farming, which is a concern of serious health issues. Our findings persuade the prudent use of antimicrobial agents in fish farming and other aquaculture settings that may assist in drafting of the new policies for the judicial use of these life-saving drugs in these sectors.