C. D. Miranda,a and R. Zemelman b
a Unidad de Microbiología, Departamento de Acuacultura,
Universidad Católica del Norte, Casilla 117, Coquimbo, Chile
b Laboratorio de Antibióticos, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de
Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 152-C, Concepción,
Chile
Available online 27 November 2001.
Abstract Antibiotic resistant bacteria from commercial demersal and pelagic fish captured in the Concepción Bay, Chile were investigated. Viable counts of antibiotic resistant bacteria isolated from gill and intestinal content samples showed high frequencies of resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin and tetracycline, while the proportion of chloramphenicol resistance was rather low. A high incidence of resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and nitrofurantoin, as well as almost an absence of resistance to gentamicin, amikacin and cotrimoxazole was found among selected isolates which represented the resistant bacterial population. These strains mainly belonged to Vibrionaceae and Enterobacteriaceae and were predominantly resistant to 3 and 4 antibacterials. Isolates from demersal fish exhibited resistance to as many as 8–10 compounds, whereas those from pelagic fish were resistant to seven or fewer antibiotics. These results suggest that Chilean commercial fishes residing in waters near the disposals of urban sewage might play a role as carriers of antibiotic resistant bacteria prompting a health risk to public health for fish consumers.
Author Keywords: bacteria; antibacterial resistance; fish bacteriology; environmental microbiology; microbial contamination; public health
Corresponding author. Tel.: +56-51-209-762; fax: +56-51-209-782; email: cdmirand@ucn.cl
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