A Preliminary Study on Detection of Serogenic E.coli in Fishes to Conduct a Microbial Assessment of Coastal Water

Abstract

Escherichia coli is a bacterial pathogen mostly responsible for gut infections and related serious illnesses. There have been some studies in the past which detected the presence of E.coli in edible fishes. The diarrheagenic E.coli strains are mainly responsible for such health issues. E.coli is an indicator of the microbiological quality of water as it indicates faecal contamination. In this paper, it is intended to understand the microbiological quality of coastal water inhabited by fish. The edible fishes consumed along the Vishakhapatnam coast were subjected to various tests like Indole production test, Citrate utilization test, Urease test to confirm the presence of E.coli. It was thereby confirmed through Polymerase Chain reaction that Indian Mackerel and Indian Salmon were infected with Sta (Heat stable toxin) serotype and SLT2 (Shiga toxin) respectively. This indicates the poor microbiological quality of the coastal water along with poor handling practices.