Aim: To study the incidence of S.enteritidis in poultry and meat samples by cultural and PCR methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 130 samples (25 each of chicken, mutton, poultry faeces, cloacal samples and 10 each of liver, spleen and kidney) collected from different sources were subjected to cultural and PCR methods for the presence of Salmonella and Salmonella enteritidis. Primers for invA and sefA gene were used for Salmonella and S.enteritidis respectively. Results: Out of 130 samples, 87 were positive for Salmonella spp. i.e. chicken-16(64%), mutton-12(48%), faeces-23(92%), cloacal swabs-23(92%), liver-5(50%), spleen and kidney samples-4(40%) each by PCR methods, whereas 77 were positive by cultural method i.e. chicken-14(56%), mutton-10(40%), faeces-22(88%), cloacal swabs-21(84%), liver-4(40%), spleen and kidney-3(30% each). Out of 87 positive for Salmonella by PCR method, 59(chicken-12, mutton-7, faeces-17, cloacal swabs-15, liver-3, spleen-2, kidney-3) were positive for S.enteritidis. High incidence of S.enteritidis (68%) in all the above samples are indicative of unhygienic conditions in poultry farms. Selective enrichment with Rappaport-Vassilidias (RV) broths and Tetrathionate (TT) broths were superior over Selenite-F (SF) and Selenite cysteine (SC) broths. Conclusions: High incidence of S.enteritidis was seen in most of poultry samples like chicken, kidney, liver and it's faeces than mutton, which was indicative of contamination of S.enteritidis is more prevalent in poultry farms.

Aim: To test the sensitivity of S. Enteritidis for selected antibiotics. Materials and Methods: S. Enteritidis isolates obtained from different samples of chicken, mutton, turkey meat, faecal and cloacal samples of poultry and turkey, eggs, water and feed were subjected for sensitivity and resistance to selected antibiotics like- Chloramphenicol (30μg), Gentamicin (10 μg), Nalidixic Acid (30 μg), Tetracycline (30 μg), Ciprofloxacin (5 μg), Amikacin (30 μg), Amoxicillin (25 μg), Ampicillin (10 μg), Streptomycin (10 μg) and Sulfonamide (30 μg). Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was established by the disk diffusion assay with MH (Muller-Hinton) agar in accordance with French National Antibiogram Committee Guidelines. Results: The sensitivity of S. Enteritidis was 100% for ciprofloxacin followed by chloramphenicol and amikacin (96%), gentamycin (90%), amoxicillin (82%), streptomycin (80%), tetracycline (76%), nalidixic acid (68%), ampicillin (58%) and sulfonamide (10%). The resistance was highest for sulfonamide (76%) followed by ampicillin (32%), nalidixic acid (30%) and 6-20% for gentamycin, amoxicillin and tetracycline. Conclusion: S. Enteritidis isolates were more sensitive to ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, amikacin, gentamycin, streptomycin,amoxicillin and tetracyclines and less sensitive to sulfonamides. Higher resistance was observed with sulfonamide followed by ampicillin and nalidixic acid. [Vet World 2013; 6(4.000): 185-188

Aim:The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of Aeromonas spp. and its enterotoxin genes in various water sources.Materials and Methods:125 samples (50 from well water, 50 from tap water, and 25 from bottled water) were collected from various sources in and around Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and examined for the presence of aeromonads by both cultural and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Alkaline peptone water with ampicillin was used as enrichment. Aeromonas isolation medium and ampicillin dextrin agar were used as selective media. The boiling and snap chilling method was used for DNA extraction. Primers targeted against 16S rRNA, aer, and ast were used to identify aeromonads and its enterotoxins.Results:48%, 18%, and 12% of well water, tap water, and bottled water samples were found positive by cultural assay with an overall prevalence of 28.8%. Aeromonads were detected in 32 % (52% in well water, 20% in tap water, and 16% in bottled water) of samples by PCR assay. Aerolysin (aer) gene was noticed in 34.6%, 20%, and 0% of well water, tap water, and bottled water samples, respectively, with an overall prevalence of 27.5%. Thermostable cytotonic enterotoxin (ast) was observed in 37.5% (42.3% in well water, 30% in tap water, and 25% in bottled mineral water) of samples.Conclusions:Presence of aeromonads and its toxin genes in various sources of water is of public health concern and emphasizes the need for necessary preventive measures to tackle the problem.

In the present study, a total of 100 catla (Catla catla—major South Asian carp, local name botcha) collected from local fish markets and aquaculture ponds were subjected for isolation and characterization of Arcobacter sp. In all, 21 Arcobacter sp. were isolated, of which 18 (85·7%) were Arcobacter butzleri and three (14%) were A. cryoaerophilus as identified by multiplex PCR. All 18 A. butzleri isolates were positive for mviN, ciaB and tlyA virulence genes, three of A. cryoaerophilus isolates carried mviN gene and none of the isolates were positive for cadF, irgA, cj1349, hecA and hecB genes. All isolates (n = 21) were resistant to penicillin (100%). Meanwhile, 71·43, 23·81, 23·81, 14·29 and 9·52% of the isolates showed resistance towards vancomycin, nalidixic acid, erythromycin, cefixime and kanamycin, respectively. Multidrug resistance was observed in 23·81% of the Arcobacter sp. isolates and none of the isolates were positive for any of the extended spectrum beta‐lactamases either by phenotypic or by molecular identification genes (blaOXA, blaSHV, blaTEM, blaCTX‐M1, blaCTX‐M2 and blaCTX‐M9 groups). The results emphasize the need to implement specific control procedures to reduce the use of antibiotics in aquaculture particularly the ones which are very important in human medicine. Significance and Impact of the Study Arcobacter species are emerging food‐ and water‐borne human pathogens. In this study, Arcobacter butzleri was predominant in fish compared to A. cryoaerohilus and A. skirrowii. Higher incidence of arcobacters in fish market samples suggests cross contamination and unhygienic handling of fish in markets. Virulence genes profile and antibiotics resistance of the Arcobacter sp. isolated in current study indicate pathogenic potential of Arcobacter sp. to humans. Occurrence of multidrug‐resistant Arcobacter sp. in fish is a major concern in food safety. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Arcobacter sp. from freshwater fish, catla (Catla catla) in India.