CHARACTERIZATION, ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF E. COLI FROM SEA FOOD IN LOCAL MARKET IN BENIN CITY.

ABSTRACT

Seafood has traditionally been part of the human diet in many countries and it is an important source of nutrients, especially of high digestible proteins. However, it is also known that seafood can be a source of food-borne toxin Infections, which emphasizes the need of a thorough control of its bacteriological characteristics. Considering the importance of researching the bacteriological quality of seafood, the following study was aimed to isolate and identify Escherichia coli from sea foods sold in local markets around Benin City and determine the antibiotic resistance pattern of isolated bacteria. Isolation and identification of E.coli and antibiotic sensitivity test were performed following the standard microbiological techniques. A total of 52 seafood samples which include 6 shrimps, 15 periwinkles, 9 frozen fish, 7 smoked fish and 15 crayfish were collected from five local markets in Benin City, Nigeria and assessed in this study. The distribution of occurrence include periwinkles [4/15 (26.7%)], crayfish [6/15 (40%)], frozen fish [3/9 (33.3%)], smoked fish [0/7 (0%)] and shrimps [0/6 (0%)]. Furthermore, results of the antimicrobial sensitivity test have shown that all of the isolates were completely resistant to two antibiotics and significantly susceptible to two of the antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin and Gentamicin). The highest resistance was demonstrated to ampicillin, ceftazidime and imipenem with a resistance rate of 100%. The least resistance was observed in ciprofloxacin with a resistance rate of 0%. The multiple antibiotics resistance (MAR) profile of Escherichia coli showed that two isolates [2/5 (40%)] were resistant to at least five antibiotics while two isolates [2/5 (40%)] demonstrated resistance to four antibiotics. The present study revealed that E.coli is a contaminant of seafood and its occurrence in seafoods could represent a risk to the consumers.