A total of 49 isolates of V. parahaemolyticus and 8 isolates of V. cholerae isolated from freshwater fish of patin (Pangasius hypopthalmus) and red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) were purchased from different retail level in Selangor, Malaysia. All of the isolates showed a multiple resistances towards all 15 antibiotics tested. Some of the isolates show a high resistance to different antibiotics including bacitracin, vancomycin, tetracycline, furazididone, cephalothin and erythromycin. However, both species was susceptible towards imipenem. Overall antibiotics resistance patterns of all isolates were resistant from 2 to 14 resistance patterns with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index ranging from 0.13 to 0.93 respectively. As the results obtained in the dendrogram produced from both species had indicates that these antibiotics were intensively used whether in the aquaculture farm through feeds during culture or at the hatchery production of seed. Thus, this study will provides an essential information of the MAR index and also the clustering analysis in order to determine the biosafety of Vibrio spp. in freshwater aquaculture fish sold at different retail level in Malaysia.
Salmonella has been reported to be presence both in raw and processed foods worldwide. In this study, the prevalence, quantification and antibiotic susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from raw vegetables or locally known as ulam such as asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica (L) Urb), water dropwort (Oenanthe javanica (Blume) DC), long bean (Vigna sinensis EndL), and winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L) DC) obtained from retail markets in Selangor, Malaysia were carried out. From 96 samples tested, the overall prevalence of Salmonella spp. was 97.9%, Salmonella Enteritidis was 54.2% and Salmonella Typhimurium was 82.3% respectively. Samples were contaminated with Salmonella ranging from < 3 to 2400 MPN/g. Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium isolates obtained from the raw vegetables (ulam) were found to exhibit high resistance against ampicillin (100%), erythromycin (100%), amoxicillin/clavunic acid (81.3%), cephalothin (75%), streptomycin (50%) and ciprofloxacin (50%). All Salmonella isolates showed multi drug resistant (MDR) profile with each isolate being resistant to 3 or more antibiotics. The multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of Salmonella isolates ranged from 0.27 to 0.55 for Salmonella Enteritidis and 0.27 to 0.82 for Salmonella Typhimurium. The presence of Salmonella on raw vegetables (ulam) and high antibiotic resistance isolates indicated that raw vegetables could be contaminated and thus imposes possible health risk to local consumers.
The objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in live chickens sold at wet markets in Selangor, Malaysia and the multidrug resistance (MDR) profiles of the isolates. Cloacal swabs were taken from the chickens before slaughter and their caecal mucosae were swabbed after slaughter. Of the 90 chickens examined, 68 (75.6%) were positive for Campylobacter. Campylobacter were recovered from caecal swabs (53/90) and cloacal swabs (34/90) and Campylobacter coli (46 isolates) were identified slightly more than Campylobacter jejuni (41 isolates), but these differences were not significant (p<0.05). The most frequently observed resistance was to cephalothin (95.5%), followed by tetracycline (80.8%), erythromycin (51.4%), enrofloxacin (42.4%) and gentamicin (24.4%). Multidrug resistance (resistant to four or more antibiotics) was detected in 35.3% isolates. Campylobacter jejuni showed nine resistance profiles and the most common was to gentamicin-eryhtromycin-enrofloxacin-cephalothin-tetracycline (32.4%) combination while C. coli showed six profiles, with cephalothin-tetracycline (32.2%) combination being most common.
Broiler part samples (80 fresh and 80 chilled) were examined for the prevalence and numbers of C. jejuni and C. coli by employing most-probable-number (MPN) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. The prevalence of the bacteria was high where C. jejuni was detected in 92.5% fresh and 53.8% chilled samples while C. coli in 80.0% fresh and 56.3% chilled. The number of these bacteria in the positive fresh and chilled samples was from 3 to more than 2400 MPN/g and from 3 to 290 MPN/g, respectively. Antibiotic resistance test (using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method) on 10 C. jejuni and 13 C. coli isolates toward ampicillin, tobramycin, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, cephalothin, gentamicin and norfloxacin revealed high resistance toward all antibiotics (20.0% - 100.0%). All isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics. This study highlights the potential of multidrug-resistant C. jejuni and C. coli transmission to humans through fresh and chilled broiler parts. Consecutive studies with bigger sample sizes and covering all over Malaysia are warranted in future.
Ninety one leaf samples of Josapine pineapple cultivar (Kelantan, n=8; Pahang, n=20; Perak, n=11; Sabah, n=15; Johor, n=37) showing symptoms of heart rot disease were collected to determine the incidence of Erwinia chrysanthemi. Sixteen strains of E. chrysanthemi were isolated from 13 leaf samples from Pahang (n=4), Sabah (n=2) and Johor (n=7). All of the E. chrysanthemi strains displayed resistance to bacitracin with two strains showing resistance to sulfamethoxazole. None of the E. chrysanthemi strains were resistant toward ampicillin, carbenicillin, cephalothin, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, gentamicin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, penicillin G, streptomycin and tetracycline. All of the E. chrysanthemi strains were plasmidless. The dendrogram generated from the ERIC-PCR fingerprinting showed that the E. chrysanthemi strains formed 4 clusters and 7 single isolates at 80% similarity level. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for 16 strains of E. chrysanthemi with HinfI and HaeIII endonuclease, 2 and 4 restriction profiles were obtained, respectively. The combinations of the four techniques were able to differentiate the 16 E. chrysanthemi strains into 14 genome types, suggesting a wide diversity of strains examined. ERICPCR fingerprinting method is found to be more discriminating and useful for the determination of the E. chrysanthemi strains relatedness.