Antibiotic resistant bacteria in diverse ecological water samples are a threat to Human Food security

Antibiotic resistance is increasing with every passing day globally and it has become common not only in clinical settings but also in different environments. Aquatic systems are major reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. In this study, we have isolated the antibiotic resistance bacteria from aquatic systems including river Ravi, fish farm and underground drinking water source. Physical, chemical and microbiological parameters were studied, bacteria were isolated, gram staining and genus identification was done by following the Burgey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. While, antibiotic susceptibility testing was done by following the disk diffusion method and CLSI guidelines. Multiple antibiotic resistant indexes were calculated. There was no significant discrepancy in physical and chemical parameters of water samples whereas in microbiological parameters, a variable number of bacteria were found in all 3 water samples indicating the presence of microbial contamination. A total of 33 bacterial strains were identified including Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus species. Out of 10 classes of antibiotics, resistant against 8 classes were identified. Organisms isolated from river Ravi were the most resistant isolates. Most of the organisms were resistant to Penicillins, Carbapenems and Cephalosporins. MAR index of isolated strains ranges from 0.43 to 0.88. AMR is common in all environmental water samples indicating a threat to human food safety