Trends in Aeromonas spp in seafood samples and antibiotic susceptibility
Insights to protect public from consumption of pathogen
A poster presentation at the 2023 World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress entitled “Identification and antibiotic susceptibility profiling of Aeromonas spp in seafood samples along the food chain in Singapore” addressed Aeromonas spp as a foodborne pathogen in meat, fresh vegetables, drinking water, and fish and shellfish in seafood-related outbreaks.1 In recent years, antibiotic overuse in aquaculture for prevention and treatment of bacterial diseases has caused a spike in antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
As part of Singapore’s National Strategic Action Plan towards AMR while incorporating a One Health approach, the AMR surveillance program looked at the prevalence of Aeromonas spp from 1343 seafood samples since August 2021. According to the research,1 69% (n=136/197) were Aeromonas hydrophila/caviae and 23% (n=46/197) were Aeromonas sobria. The highest prevalence of Aeromonas spp was found in fish (53% n=104/197) and oysters (26% n=52/197). A lower prevalence was found in prawn and mussel (6% n=12/197), feed (4%=7/197) with scallop, clam, squid, and cockle as (5% n=10/197).1
It was noted that oysters are often eaten raw and have a possibly higher risk of foodborne illness. Thus, antimicrobial profiles and genome analysis were performed on 30 Aeromonas spp isolates from oyster samplesto delve more into AMR implications in aquatic environments and public health. The tested samples were found to be susceptible to cefotaxime (97%), ciprofloxacin (97%), chloramphenicol (94%), and tetracycline (87%). All samples were susceptible to ceftazidime, egntamicin, and meropenem, and didn’t experience multi-drug resistance. These isolates have shown limited resistance to the antibiotics panel tested and various Aeromonas spp clusters were identified in Whole Genome Sequencing.1
These findings have spotlighted the occurrences of Aeromonas spp in seafood samples and provided information on their AMR profiles to help inform the public on consumption warnings.
References
Roshini MD, Salwah RA, Tan LW, et al. Identification and antibiotic-susceptibility profiling of Aeromonas spp. in seafood samples along the food chain in Singapore. Presented at: World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress. September 7-8, 2023.
