Abstract
The aim of this study was to characterize the antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity potential of Vibrio cholerae isolates originated from water samples and bivalve mollusks. The strains were subjected to phenotypic identification and molecular confirmation using the species-specific initiator (OmpW); minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined; and the production of metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs) and virulence potential of the strains by using the initiator ctxAB (cholera toxin), tcp (toxin co-regulator pilus), rfbO1 (serogroup O1) and zot (zonula occludens toxin) were investigated. Six isolates of the bacterium (three from water and three from bivalve mollusks) were confirmed through the biochemical and specific gene detection tests. The isolates presented a high susceptibility toward the tested antimicrobials (91%) (10/11). One of the strains from water showing resistance to imipenem (MIC 20 µg), and producing MβLs did not show any involvement of plasmids. The genes related to the virulence were not detected; and all of the V. cholerae isolates belonged to the non-O1 serotype. However, the presence of an imipenem-resistant and MβLs-producing V. cholerae in a river mouth aquatic environment, which is a natural aviary of bivalve mollusks, represents a risk to the health of the population and alarms the public health agencies. Key words: Mollusc, public health, antibiotic resistance.
Highlights
Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, which inhabits aquatic environments
The aim of this study was to characterize the antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity potential of Vibrio cholerae isolates originated from water samples and bivalve mollusks
The V. cholerae isolates were identified based on their phenotype and further confirmed by the presence of ompW (Table 1)
Summary
Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, which inhabits aquatic environments. Water has a significant role in its transmission and epidemiology of this disease leading to outbreaks at endemic, epidemic, and pandemic levels (Goel et al, 2010). Based on somatic antigen (O antigen), V. cholerae is classified into serogroups or serovars, and a total of 206 serogroups of V. cholerae have been identified so far. The toxigenic serogroups O1 and O139 have been found to be directly associated with epidemic (O1 and O139) and pandemic (O1) cholera (Raychoudhuri et al, 2009). The O1 serogroup can be further classified into two biotypes, classical and El Tor. El Tor was disseminated around the world the etiological agent behind current
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