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The giant snakehead, Channa micropeltes, is an increasingly important economic freshwater fish in Thailand and other regions of Asia. Presently, giant snakehead are cultured under intensive aquaculture conditions, leading to high stress and conditions favouring disease. In this study, we reported a disease outbreak in farmed giant snakehead with a cumulative mortality of 52.5%, continuing for 2 months. The affected fish exhibited signs of lethargy, anorexia and haemorrhage of the skin and eyes. Further bacterial isolations revealed two different types of colonies on tryptic soy agar: small white, punctate colonies of gram-positive cocci and cream-coloured, round and convex colonies of rod-shaped gram-negative bacteria. Additional biochemical and species-specific PCR analysis based on 16S rRNA confirmed the isolates as Streptococcus iniae and Aeromonas veronii. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) placed the S. iniae isolate into a large clade of strains from clinically infected fish worldwide. Gross necropsy findings showed liver congestion, pericarditis and white nodules in the kidney and liver. Histologically, the affected fish showed focal to multifocal granulomas with inflammatory cell infiltration in kidney and liver, enlarged blood vessels with mild congestion within the meninges of the brain and severe necrotizing and suppurative pericarditis with myocardial infarction. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that S. iniae was sensitive to amoxicillin, erythromycin, enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline and resistant to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, while the A. veronii was susceptible to erythromycin, enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and resistant to amoxicillin. Conclusively, our findings highlighted the natural concurrent bacterial infections in cultured giant snakehead, which support the implementation of appropriate treatment and control strategies., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The use, environmental fate and ecological risks of antibiotics applied in tilapia cage farming were investigated in the Tha Chin and Mun rivers in Thailand. Information on antibiotic use was collected through interviewing 29 farmers, and the concentrations of the most commonly used antibiotics, oxytetracycline (OTC) and enrofloxacin (ENR), were monitored in river water and sediment samples. Moreover, we assessed the toxicity of OTC and ENR on tropical freshwater invertebrates and performed a risk assessment for aquatic ecosystems. All interviewed tilapia farmers reported to routinely use antibiotics. Peak water concentrations for OTC and ENR were 49 and 1.6 μg/L, respectively. Antibiotics were most frequently detected in sediments with concentrations up to 6908 μg/kg d.w. for OTC, and 2339 μg/kg d.w. for ENR. The results of this study indicate insignificant short-term risks for primary producers and invertebrates, but suggest that the studied aquaculture farms constitute an important source of antibiotic pollution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study aimed at surveying prevalence of oxytetracycline (OTC)-resistant bacteria in the white-leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, and the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon, intensively cultured in Thailand. We investigated the phylogenetic diversity of the bacterial isolates, as well as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of OTC, the occurrence of major OTC-resistant genes and multiple-antibiotic resistance in the isolates. Shrimps were collected from culture ponds, and the homogenates of whole bodies were plated on tryptic soy agar supplemented with or without OTC. Percentages of OTC-resistant bacteria were 0·3-52·1% in white-leg samples and 0·008-22·3% in black tiger samples. Analyses of 16S rDNA sequences indicated that most OTC-resistant isolates were closely related to Aeromonas spp. and Lactococcus garvieae. MICs of OTC were 4-128 μg ml in the OTC-resistant aeromonads and 128-256 μg ml in OTC-resistant L. garvieae. OTC resistance was found to be conferred by the genes tet(A), tet(C), tet(D), tet(E), tet(M) and tet(S), detected either singly or in pairs. No resistance to ceftazidime, imipenem or chloramphenicol was observed in any isolate. Both species of shrimp are associated with OTC-resistant bacteria, occasionally at high densities exceeding 10 cfu g. The associated bacteria, predominantly Lactococcus and Aeromonas genera, are potential pathogens and are reservoirs of a variety of OTC-resistant genes. Cultured shrimps can be vehicle to carry OTC-resistant bacteria to domestic and foreign consumers via the food chain. Very low populations of OTC-resistant bacteria observed in the several ponds suggest that levels of the resistant bacteria are artificially high and should be reduced in farmed shrimps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Soil of former shrimp aquaculture facilities in Thailand may be contaminated by antibiotics (e.g. oxytetracycline and norfloxacin) and have elevated salinity. Therefore, reuse of this land can be problematic. The utility of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) for phytoremediation was investigated. The rate of germination and seedling emergence in prepared contaminated soil (conductivity 17.7dSm−1 from adding 70mg sodium chlorideg−1 dry weight, 105mgkg−1 dry weight oxytetracycline and 55mgkg−1 dry weight norfloxacin) in sunlight was approximately 80% that of uncontaminated soil. This reduction was largely due to the high salinity. The antibiotics of interest degraded relatively rapidly in soil (half-life <10h for both) but loss was slower in deionised water. Accumulation of the antibiotics from deionised water by soybean resulted in little effect on growth rate and maximum levels in plants were observed after two days exposure, followed by declining concentrations. For soybean plants grown in saline soil, 90% removal of NaCl from soil adjacent to plant roots was observed, most within two days. Wilting and defoliation occurred, but plants recovered after 10days and maximum salt levels in plants exceeded 20,000mgg−1 dry weight with translocation from root to shoot tissue noted. Soybean plants also accumulated the antibiotics from prepared contaminated saline soil, but translocation from the roots was not observed. The results showed that soybean can be valuable for phytoremediation in these situations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The giant river shrimp ( Macrobrachium rosenbergii), a native species of Thailand, is either exported for commercial purposes or supplied to meet the local requirements in Thailand. Limited pharmacokinetic information of the major antibiotic, oxytetracycline (OTC), is available for this freshwater shrimp. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the muscle tissue kinetics of OTC in M. rosenbergii following either intramuscular (i.m.) or oral (p.o.) administration at two dosages of 11 and 22 mg/kg body weight (b.w.). The concentration of OTC in shrimp tissues was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a fluorescence detector. Muscle tissue concentrations were below the detection limit (LOD, 0.1 μg/g) after 96 and 120 h, following i.m. and p.o. administration, respectively. Peak muscle concentrations (Cmax) were 3.47 and 1.73 μg/g after i.m. and p.o. administration at a single dose of 11 mg/kg b.w. whereas they were 6.03 and 2.51 μg/g at a single dose of 22 mg/kg b.w., respectively. A noncompartment model was developed to describe the pharmacokinetics of OTC in the giant freshwater shrimp. The terminal half-lives of OTC were 28.68 and 28.09 h after i.m. and p.o. administration at a single dose of 11 mg/kg b.w., but 29.95 and 27.03 h at a single dose of 22 mg/kg b.w., respectively. The relative bioavailability was 82.32 and 64.67% following i.m. and p.o. administration, respectively. Based on the pharmacokinetic data, i.m. and p.o. administration with OTC at a dose of 11 mg/kg b.w. would be appropriate for use in giant freshwater shrimp farming. To avoid the OTC residue in shrimp muscle, it should take at least seven half-lives (8 days) to wash out the drug from the muscle of M. rosenbergii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential ecological risks associated with contaminants from 15 abandoned shrimp ponds in southern Thailand were assessed at the screening level. Shrimp ponds reported as out of production for more than 2 years were selected as sampling sites. The assessment endpoint was identified as the protection of aquatic life from hazard of multiple agents or stressors in water or sediment from the ponds. The measurement endpoints were amount of toxic phytoplankton species, Yellow Head Viruses, SEMB viruses, oxytetracycline, cadmium, copper, and manganese. Data from field measurements and laboratory analyses obtained primarily from April to June 2003 were used in the risk analysis. The results showed that insignificant amounts of stressors were present, except for the metals. So, only concentration values of the metals were used in the calculation of hazard quotients (HQ) for risk characterization. The highest potential ecological risk characterized by the highest HQ value observed for each metal was 19 for manganese, 4.3 for cadmium, and 1.8 for copper. These findings indicated a need for further ecological risk assessment at a more detailed level to focus on the bioavailability and effects of metals from abandoned shrimp farms, with manganese the highest priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxytetracycline is an antibacterial agent used widely for therapy of systemic bacterial infections in farmed fish, Thailand. The pharmacokinetics of oxytetracycline after intrasinus and oral administration in giant tiger prawn was examined by using a rapid high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method.The kinetics of oxytetracycline was described by a two-compartment model after intrasinus administration. The distribution half-life (T½α = 0.089 h) of oxytetracycline was shorter than the elimination half-life (T½β = 23.1 h). The kinetics of orally given oxytetracycline was fitted to a one-compartment model. The bioavailability was calculated to be 59.9%. The time required for drug absorption (TDA), defined as the time for absorption to reach 90% of the maximum level, was approximately 9 h. An apparent steady-state distribution (Vss: 0.41 L/kg) was found for oxytetracycline in the present study, which is smaller than in fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites a study relating to oxytetracycline sensitivity of Vibrio species isolated from diseased black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon Fabricius. Vibrio bacteria are major pathogens of pond-reared tiger shrimp, Penaetis monodon Fabricius. In Thailand, vibriosis outbreaks have become more frequent since 1990 and have resulted in mortalities of up to 100 percent. The findings in this study emphasize the need for monitoring antibiotic sensitivity in Vibrio species isolates in order to ensure the efficacy of treatments. The use of ineffective antibiotics not only fails to help the problem and therefore wastes money, but also encourages the development of resistance.