Antibiogram and Heavy Metal Resistance Pattern of Salmonella spp. Isolated from Wild Asian Sea Bass (Lates calcarifer) from Tok Bali, Kelantan, Malaysia

The aim of this study is to characterize antibiogram and heavy metal resistance pattern of Salmonella spp. isolated from wild Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer). Salmonella spp. is recognized as a food borne pathogen to humans. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the suitable antibiotic in controlling Salmonella spp. isolated from Asian sea bass, Malaysian favorite seafood. In the present study, Salmonella spp. was isolated using Xylose Lysine Desoxycholate (XLD) medium. The bacterial isolates were then identified using conventional biochemical tests and conformed to commercial identification kit. A total of 150 isolates of Salmonella spp. were randomly selected for antibiotic and heavy metal tolerance tests. Fourteen antibiotics, namely oxolinic acid (2 μg), ampicillin (10 μg), erythromycin (15 μg), furazolidone (15 μg), lincomycin (15 μg), colistin sulfate (25 μg), oleandomycin (15 μg), doxycycline (30 μg), nitrofurantoin (50 μg), fosfomycin (50 μg), florfenicol (30 μg), flumequine (30 μg), tetracycline (30 μg), and spiramycin (100 μg) and four heavy metals; mercury (Hg2+), cadmium (Cd2+), chromium (Cr6+) and copper (Cu2+) were tested in the present study. The results of the present study indicating that oxolinic acid were found the most effective in controlling present bacterial isolates in which 85.3 % of the present bacterial were sensitive to them. This was followed by tetracycline and nitrofurantoin in which 85.2 % of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to it. On the other hand, all the bacterial isolates were resistant to lincomycin and oleandomycin. The findings of the present study indicate that the samples may be highly exposed to the tested antibiotics and heavy metals.