Occurrence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria isolated from seawater organisms caught in Campania Region: preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals is a public health concern: drugs administered to humans and animals are excreted with urine or faeces and attend the sewage treatment. The main consequences of use and abuse of antibiotics is the development and diffusion of antibiotic resistance that has become a serious global problem. Aim of the study is to evaluate the presence of antimicrobial residues and to assess the antimicrobial resistance in bacteria species isolated from different wild caught seawater fish and fishery products. RESULTS: Three antibiotic substances (Oxytetracicline, Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim) were detected (by screening and confirmatory methods) in Octopus vulgaris, Sepia officinalis and Thais haemastoma. All Vibrio strains isolated from fish were resistant to Vancomycin (VA) and Penicillin (P). In Vibrio alginolyticus, isolated in Octopus vulgaris, a resistance against 9 antibiotics was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Wild caught seawater fish collected in Gulf of Salerno (Campania Region), especially in marine areas including mouths of streams, were contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains and that they might play an important role in the spread of antibiotic-resistance.