Resistance Profile of Vibrio spp. Strains Collected from Lagoon Bays and Wastewater in the City of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, from January to June 2017

Abstract

Background: Lagoons and wastewater constitute aquatics environments which receive or accounts for most domestic discharges. These waters constitute an important ecosystem for the proliferation of microorganisms. The microorganisms that harbor these waters can provide information on the persistence of certain diseases in the human population, including gastrointestinal infections such as Cholera. The genus Vibrio contains pathogenic aquatic bacteria found in lagoon bays and wastewater. Objective: The main objectives of this work were to confirm the presence of Vibrio spp. in lagoon bays and sewage of the city of Abidjan over the entire interepidemic period, and to evaluate their sensitivity to commonly used antibiotics. Methods: The isolation and identification of the microorganisms were carried out using classical bacteriological techniques (biochemical test, API 20E gallery). When necessary, serotyping was carried out using agglutination tests on slides. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion (KBDD) method. Results: This study identified 12 bacterial strains, 9/12 (75%) of which were Vibrio sp. strains. Two Vibrio species, namely Vibrio parahaemolyticus 2/9 (22%) and 7/9 Vibrio cholerae (78%) were identified. V. cholerae was isolated from both sewage and lagoon waters with dominance of serotype O1. The V. cholerae O1 and non-O1 strains showed a high level of resistance to sulfonamides, quinolones, fluoroquinolones, and moderate sensitivity to penicillins and tetracyclines. Resistant V. parahaemolyticus strains were also identified. Conclusion: The increased resistance of these bacteria could pose potential problems in the treatment of epidemics and other communicable diseases. The emergence of these multi-drug resistant strains of the genus Vibrio should prompt the Ivorian health authorities to maintain an epidemiological surveillance network for waterborne diseases throughout the country and to continue bacteriological sampling to monitor Vibrio's sensitivity to antibiotics.