TY - JOUR
T1 - Aeromonas spp. prevalence, virulence and antimicrobial resistance in an ex situ program for threatened freshwater fish – a pilot study with protective measures
AU - Grilo, Miguel L.
AU - Amaro, Guadalupe
AU - Chambel, Lélia
AU - Marques, Carolina S.
AU - Marques, Tiago A.
AU - Gil, Fátima
AU - Sousa-Santos, Carlos
AU - Robalo, Joana I.
AU - Oliveira, Manuela
N1 - This research was supported by CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Project UIDB/00276/2020 (funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia IP), by MARE (MARE-ISPA), MARE/UIDB/MAR/04292/2020 and strategic project MARE/UIDP/MAR/04292/2020 (also funded by FCT) and by the Zebra Foundation for Veterinary Zoological Education, Grant “A. hydrophila in Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum”. MLG thanks funding by the University of Lisbon (PhD fellowship C10571K). TAM and CM thank partial support by CEAUL (funded by FCT, Portugal, through the project UIDB/00006/2020).
PY - 2022/2/11
Y1 - 2022/2/11
N2 - Ex situ breeding programs are important
conservation tools for endangered freshwater fish. However, developing
husbandry techniques that decrease the likelihood of disease,
antimicrobial resistance, and virulence determinants acquisition during
this process is challenging. In this pilot study, we conducted a
captivity experiment with Portuguese nase (Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum),
a critically endangered leuciscid species, to investigate the influence
of simple protective measures (i.e., material disinfection protocols
and animal handling with gloves) on the dynamics of a potential
pathogenic genus, Aeromonas, as well as its virulence profiles and antimicrobial resistance signatures. Our findings show that antimicrobial resistance in Aeromonas spp. collected from I. lusitanicum
significantly increased during the extent of the assay (5 weeks), with
all isolates collected at the end of the study classified as
multidrug-resistant. Additionally, humans handling fishes without
protective measures were colonized by Aeromonas spp. The use of protective measures suggested a decreasing trend in Aeromonas spp. prevalence in I. lusitanicum,
while bacterial isolates displayed significantly lower virulence index
values when virulence phenotypical expression was tested at 22 °C.
Despite this study representing an initial trial, which needs support
from further research, protective measures tested are considered a
simple tool to be applied in ex situ
breeding programs for aquatic animals worldwide. Furthermore, current
results raise concern regarding antimicrobial resistance amplification
and zoonotic transmission of Aeromonas spp. in aquatic ex situ programs.
AB - Ex situ breeding programs are important
conservation tools for endangered freshwater fish. However, developing
husbandry techniques that decrease the likelihood of disease,
antimicrobial resistance, and virulence determinants acquisition during
this process is challenging. In this pilot study, we conducted a
captivity experiment with Portuguese nase (Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum),
a critically endangered leuciscid species, to investigate the influence
of simple protective measures (i.e., material disinfection protocols
and animal handling with gloves) on the dynamics of a potential
pathogenic genus, Aeromonas, as well as its virulence profiles and antimicrobial resistance signatures. Our findings show that antimicrobial resistance in Aeromonas spp. collected from I. lusitanicum
significantly increased during the extent of the assay (5 weeks), with
all isolates collected at the end of the study classified as
multidrug-resistant. Additionally, humans handling fishes without
protective measures were colonized by Aeromonas spp. The use of protective measures suggested a decreasing trend in Aeromonas spp. prevalence in I. lusitanicum,
while bacterial isolates displayed significantly lower virulence index
values when virulence phenotypical expression was tested at 22 °C.
Despite this study representing an initial trial, which needs support
from further research, protective measures tested are considered a
simple tool to be applied in ex situ
breeding programs for aquatic animals worldwide. Furthermore, current
results raise concern regarding antimicrobial resistance amplification
and zoonotic transmission of Aeromonas spp. in aquatic ex situ programs.
KW - ex situ
KW - Aeromonas spp.
KW - Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum
KW - Virulence
KW - Antimicrobial resistance
U2 - 10.3390/ani12040436
DO - 10.3390/ani12040436
M3 - Article
SN - 2076-2615
VL - 12
JO - Animals
JF - Animals
IS - 4
M1 - 436
ER -