Isolation of antibiotic resistant bacteria from rivers in Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been a major concern due to the problems that they may pose in terms of public and environmental health. This present study aimed to investigate the presence of antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains isolated from rivers and to determine the impact of various human activities on the distribution of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Bacteria were isolated from river water samples of Lebir River (Point 1 and Point 2) and Kelantan River (Point 3 and Point 4). Antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted on the bacterial isolates against six types of antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, rifampicin and ciprofloxacin) was performed, followed by characterization and identification of the isolates using a series of biochemical tests. The findings show the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in all four samples, indicating the relationship between the resistance of isolates and the human activities within the vicinity of the area. A total of 27 bacterial isolates were successfully isolated from the rivers and predicted as Actinomyces sp., Arachnia sp., Streptomyces sp., Streptococcus sp., Enterococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Clostridium sp., Neisseria sp., Veillonella sp., Bacteroides sp., Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., Proteus sp., Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Escherichia sp, Pseudomonas sp., Aeromonas sp., Vibrio sp. Staphylococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Actinobacillus sp., and Flavobacterium sp. However, further analysis of the antibiotic resistant bacteria is recommended to further identify and understand them due to the potential risk that they may pose to human and environment.