Abstract
Marine outfalls contribute to the environmental protection of coastal zones. However, these structures may serve as vehicles for microbiological contamination. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in water samples collected from 67 stations located in nearby areas of the ocean outfall in Fortaleza, Brazil. 81 Enterococcus strains were isolated, identified and distributed in the following groups of species: Enterococcus faecalis (n = 37; 45.7%), Enterococcus faecium (n = 30; 37%), Enterococcus mundtii (n = 9; 11.1%), Enterococcus raffinosus (n = 2; 2.5%), Enterococcus dispar (n = 2; 2.5%) and Enterococcus durans (n = 1; 1.2%). Antimicrobial resistance was observed in 47 (58%) of the strains, and the most predominant profile was the concurrent resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin, penicillin and vancomycin. In 31 strains were detected phenotypically, plasmid resistance factors. The data reported in this study should serve as an alert to public health authorities, since they suggest that the area near the submarine outfall in Fortaleza may contribute to antimicrobial-resistant enterococci spread. Key words: Enterococci, seawater, multidrug-resistant bacteria, public health.
Highlights
The coexistence of different interests in coastal areas, that is, the presence of highly populated cities, recreational areas and extensive shellfish farming (Scroccaro et al, 2010) justifies the construction of structures which contribute to mitigate the impact caused by adding residual water into the aquatic environment.marine outfalls must be considered part of an integrated environmental protection system for coastal zones (Mendonça et al, 2013)
Among the bacteria constantly associated to domestic sewage, those which belong to the Enterococcus genus
The identification of 81 isolates from 20 sampling sites revealed the presence of six species: Enterococcus faecalis (n = 37; 45.7%), E. faecium (n = 30; 37%), DISCUSSION
Summary
The coexistence of different interests in coastal areas, that is, the presence of highly populated cities, recreational areas and extensive shellfish farming (Scroccaro et al, 2010) justifies the construction of structures which contribute to mitigate the impact caused by adding residual water into the aquatic environment. Marine outfalls must be considered part of an integrated environmental protection system for coastal zones (Mendonça et al, 2013). These structures need to be constantly monitored, once they serve as vehicle to pollution due to organic enrichment and microbiological contamination (Gubitoso et al, 2008). Among the bacteria constantly associated to domestic sewage, those which belong to the Enterococcus genus.
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