Title: Antimicrobial Resistance Potential of Microbes Isolated from Fish Ponds in Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Aquacultures are practised in different water confinements which include plastic ponds, concrete and earthen and are known to harbour pathogens. In aquaculture (fish rearing) the use of antibiotics is on the increase where they are used as disease eradicators and as growth promoters. This study sought to investigate the antibiotic resistance potential of bacteria isolated from fish ponds in Ikorodu, Lagos State. A total number of ten water samples were collected from five different sampling points at depth 1.5m within the ponds, close to the outlets and at the outlets from the cat-fish and tilapia-fish ponds. These were serially diluted and inoculated and the pure isolates were subjected to antibiotics sensitivity testing using Kirby- Bauer’s disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration methods. Pure isolates which were found to show multiple resistances to antibiotics were characterized based on their morphology and biochemical characteristics. The isolates were further identified by molecular analysis using 16SrRNA gene detection and sequencing. The Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, cefuroxime, nitrofurantoin, ampicillin, amoxycillin, clavulanate. gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and all the isolates were susceptible to Ofloxacin. The molecular analysis revealed that the organisms which showed multiple resistances to antibiotics were Azotobacter chroococcum, Escherichia Coli, Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In conclusion this study has revealed the need for good management of aquaculture facilities in order to avoid zoonotic diseases; also monitoring of antibiotics usage in fish ponds should be given high priority to avoid resistant genes from being transferred to other bacteria of human clinical significance.