Public Health Significance of Antibiotic Resistance Profiles in Bacteria Associated with Fresh, Frozen, and Dried Whiteleg Shrimps Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931)

The use of effective environmental sanitation practices, and appropriate handling techniques may lead to a reduction in bacterial infections present in prawns, hence improving their nutritional value.The present study aimed to study the antibiotic susceptibility in isolates of various bacterial strains from fresh shrimp, frozen shrimp, and dried shrimp samples collected from (i) Pondicherry, (ii) Cuddalore, (iii) Parangipettai, (iv) Nagapatinam, and (v) Karaikal.Fresh samples had an average total culturable heterotrophic bacterial (TCHB) count of 2.5×10 7 cfu/g and a total coliform bacterial (TCB) count of 2.8×10 6 cfu/g.In contrast, frozen samples had an average count of 8.7×10 6 cfu/g for TCHB and 2.4×10 4 cfu/g for TCB, and dried shrimp averaged 1.7×10 1 cfu/g for TCHB and 1.0×101 cfu/g for TCB.The density of THCB and TCB in the fresh samples was significantly higher than that obtained for the frozen shrimp and dried fish samples (p<0.05).A total of 405 bacteria were isolated, comprising 193 from fresh shrimp samples, 115 from frozen shrimp samples, and 97 from dried shrimp samples.The percentage of bacterial genera in fresh sample is --Vibrio sp.6.2%, Salmonella sp.8.2%, Shigella sp.9.8%, Aeromonas sp.10.8%, E.coli sp.15.0%, Staphylococcus sp.8.2% Klebsiella sp.5.1%, Listeria sp.4.6%.Bacillus sp.9.3%, Pseudomonas sp.11.0%, Unknown sp.6.2%.While frozen shrimp had Pseudomonas sp.17.9%, Bacillus spp.11.7%, Micrococcus sp.4.6%, Enterobacter sp.10.1%, Aeromonas sp.13.2%, Proteus sp.7.3%, Streptococcus sp.8.5%, Flavobacterum sp.4.6%, Lactobacillus sp.10.9%, Acetobacter sp.3.9%, Unknown spp.7.3%; dried shrimp sample had Pseudomonas sp.17.9%, Bacillus spp.11.7%, Micrococcus sp.4.6%, Enterobacter sp.10.1%, Aeromonas sp.13.2%, Proteus sp.7.3%, Streptococcus sp.8.5%, Flavobacterum sp.4.6%, Lactobacillus sp.10.9%, Acetobacter 3.9%, and Unknown 7.3%.Consumption of bacterial-contaminated shrimps has been reported to be responsible for gastroenteritis, diarrhea, bacillary dysentery, and typhoid fever in humans.Antibiogram of selected isolates indicated their multiple antibiotic resistances to all antibiotics.The resistance patterns shown by bacterial isolates obtained from fresh shrimp samples showed that the isolates were 100% resistant to four antibiotics: Ampicillin (AMP), Cefpodoxime (CPD), Doxycycline (DO), and Gentamicin (GEN).The antibiotics Amoxcillin (AMC), Cephalexin (CN), Levofloxacin (LE), Ciprofloxacin (CF), Norfloxacin (NX), and Ofloxain (OF) exhibited the lowest levels of resistance, with resistance rates of 85%.97%, 93%, 81%, 75%, 76%.Frozen shrimp revealed that all isolates resisted several antibiotics, as shown in.AMP, CF, NX, GEN Nevertheless, showed 100% resistance.Dried shrimp revealed that all isolates exhibited resistance to five antibiotics, namely AMP, CXM, OF, CF, and DO.The antibiotics AMC, CPD, GEN, Levofloxacin, and Norfloxacin (NX) exhibited the lowest resistance levels, with resistance rates of 85%.91%, 98%,