No abstract

A wide variety of infections are caused by E. coli in human including foodborne illnesses that may range from diarrheal disease to life threating Hemorrhagic Colitis (HC), Haemolytic Uremic syndrome (HUS). In this present study total 200 market fish samples comprising 25 each of skin, muscle, gills, intestine as well as 25 each of water sample, knife swab, butchers'' hand swab and log swab were screened for the presence of E. coli. Among these samples, E. coli could be isolated and characterized biochemically as well as by PCR. PCR results indicated that out of 43 isolates, 4 (9.30%) isolates were positive for stx1 gene and 7 (16.27%) isolates were positive for stx2 gene while 1 (2.32%) isolate positive for both of genes. The antibiogram of all isolates revealed high degree of sensitivity to Chloramphenicol (95.34%) and gentamicin (93.02%) while high frequency of resistance were observed to ampicillin (67.44%) and streptomycin (32.35%). The presence of E. coli in market fish is considered a sanitary case and may represent a risk to the consumers. However, the presence of non-pathogenic E. coli in fish should be viewed as a public health concern since this bacterium is recognized as an indicator of fecal contamination. The present study supports the finding that fresh water fish can be regarded as critical source of pathogenic E. coli. This explains the need of strict monitoring and surveillance for effective measures of hygiene and sanitary practice during selling of fresh water fish.