Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Edwardsiella ictaluri isolates from natural outbreaks of bacillary necrosis of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in Vietnam.

The purpose of this study was to assess the in vitro susceptibility of 64 Vietnamese isolates of Edwardsiella ictaluri, the causal agent of the infectious disease Bacillus Necrosis Pangasius in Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, using the agar dilution technique. All isolates originated from different farms and were collected between 2002 and 2005. None of the isolates displayed acquired resistance to amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, chloramphenicol, florfenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, and nitrofurantoin. Acquired resistance to streptomycin was detected in 83%, to oxytetracycline in 81%, and to trimethoprim in 71% of the isolates, as indicated by a bimodal distribution of the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of these antimicrobials. The MICs of enrofloxacin displayed a monomodal distribution with tailing toward the higher MIC values, possibly indicating reduced susceptibility of a minority of isolates (3 out of the 64). For the quinolone antimicrobial agents flumequin and oxolinic acid, acquired resistance was encountered in 8% and 6% of the strains, respectively. All strains were intrinsically resistant to the polypeptide antimicrobial agent colistin. Seventy-three percent of the isolates were shown to have acquired resistance to at least three antimicrobial agents. The results of this study emphasize the strict need to control both the prophylactic and curative use of antimicrobial agents in Vietnamese aquaculture.