Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria in Coastal Shrimp Pond Water and Effluent

The rapid growth of shrimp farm activities began since last 40 years. It is due to high demands and can generate economy to the country. In Malaysia, thousands tonnes of shrimp were produced every year for local demand and export as well. However high demand in this industry, causes problem of water pollution in shrimp ponds which subsequently contaminated discharge from the pond due to presence of bacteria. In this study, it was found that shrimp farm water and effluent containing pathogenic bacteria which is resistant to certain antibiotic. These antibiotic resistance bacteria could be harmful to human. Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella flexneri and E. coli were detected in the water and effluent from the shrimp farm. Total of Vibrio in 3 and 6 months pond were higher than allowable limit, which is 1625 and 2650 cfu/ml, respectively. E. coli in this study was recorded at low concentration, however dramatically increased in 4 months pond (438 cfu/ml) before plunging to 13 cfu/ml in 6 months pond. It can be concluded that the higher number of pathogenic bacteria (>1000 cfu/ml of Vibrio) were detected in shrimp pond water and effluent can cause illness to human health.