Association of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Freshwater Fishes of Kolkata Market

Association of Vibrio parahaemolyticus with market freshwater fish samples in and around Kolkata and their mutagenicity to chloramphenicol was investigated. Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated in 14% of freshwater fish samples possibly because of cross-contamination due to mishandling of freshwater fishes along with brackishwater and/or marine fishes. The mutation frequency of oxytetracycline resistant V. Parahaemolyticus strains was found to be high (1.13 × 10^-9 - 1.00 × 10^-9) compared to that of the strains susceptible to antibiotics (3.16 × 10^-10 - 2.39 × 10^-10), which is a cause of concern from public health point of view.