Current status of bacterial contamination in some fish species of Bakkhali river Estuary, Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the isolation of human pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. Shigella spp. and Vibrio spp.) and in gills, intestines, skin of fishes of Bakkhali River Estuary, Cox’s Bazar. A total of 50 fish species (25 of Pomadasys hasta and 25 of Glossogobius giuris) were collected from two sampling stations namely Station-1 (Rumalia Chara) and Station-2 (Kusturi Ghat). Bacterial analyses were made by standard methods. Total heterotrophic bacterial load of the isolates was found to be lower than the recommended public health and standard. However, the highest pathogenic bacterial (E. coli, Salmonella spp. Shigella spp. and Vibrio spp.) count at Station-2 might be due to the contamination of municipal and domestic wastes and discharges from small industries that constitute the main pollution source of this estuarine river. Skin was found to be the most preferred organs for higher bacterial load compared to intestine and lower count was recorded in gills. Further research on the microbial quality assessment should be undertaken to prevent pollution of this river estuary.