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Microbiological analysis of skin lesions of cod (Gadus morhua) from the southern part of the Baltic Sea Cover

Microbiological analysis of skin lesions of cod (Gadus morhua) from the southern part of the Baltic Sea

Open Access
|Mar 2024

Abstract

Introduction

Since the middle of the 1980s, severe skin disorders have been observed in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) each year. Available data on the spectrum of bacteria isolated from the clinical cases being limited, and evaluation of the microbial background of fish skin lesions being useful, a bacteriological examination has been undertaken.

Material and Methods

A total of 1,381 cod were caught during two voyages of the Baltica research vessel in the Polish exclusive economic zone of the southern Baltic Sea. After an examination which found lesions in 164 of the fish, a microbiological analysis was performed to isolate bacteria from them. The collected strains were phenotyped and genotyped, and their antimicrobial resistance was analysed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) techniques.

Results

Bacteriological examinations provided 850 isolates. The dominant microorganisms were mesophilic Aeromonas spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Shewanella baltica. Opportunistic bacteria potentially hazardous to human health were also isolated, e.g. Alcaligenes faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Vibrio sp. The MIC analysis determined the highest number of bacteria to resist sulphamethoxazole and amoxicillin and clavulanic acid.

Conclusion

Most of the collected bacteria were opportunistic pathogens for fish, widespread in the aquatic environment, and potentially threatening to humans.

Language: English
Page range: 79 - 92
Submitted on: Jul 21, 2023
Accepted on: Jan 17, 2024
Published on: Mar 23, 2024
Published by: National Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 times per year

© 2024 Agnieszka Pękala-Safińska, Katarzyna Nadolna-Ałtyn, Mirosław Różycki, Ewa Paździor, Tomasz Cencek, Magdalena Podolska, published by National Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.