Fisheries & Aquaculture

The pathogenic microflora of three anatomical sites (skin, gills and intestine) of fifty (50) fishes belonging to twenty-one genera, as well as water samples collected from Limbe and Tiko beaches were analyzed, using standard methods. The susceptibility pattern of the bacterial isolated to some commonly prescribed antibiotics was also investigated by the Kirby-Bauer method. A total of 275 bacterial isolates, all belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, were obtained. Eleven bacteria species were indentified: Esherichia coli type 1, citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, serratia odorifera, Hafnia alvei, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus penneri, klebsiella preumoniae, klebsiella oxytoca, klebsiella ozaenae. These organisms are either true pathogens or potential ones. Both fish and water samples were contaminated with these bacteria species. The specimens from the Limbe estuary were more contaminated (61.4&) than the specimens from Tiko creek (38.6%). Also the specimens from Limbe estuary had a higher bacteria load (58.8%) than Tiko creek (41.2%). Ranking the contamination of fish anatomical sites, it was observed that the skin was the most contaminated site while the gills were least contaminated. Gprofloxacin and ofloxacin were the most effective drugs against the isolates as all isolates exhibited 100% sensitivity to these drugs. Isolated were 100% resistant to imepenam compared to Ampicillin (60.4&). Our study has adduced that fish are sources of human pathogenic bacteria; hence fish from these areas must be adequately prepared before consumption.