Prevalence of bacterial infections and the use of multiplex PCR assay for rapid detection of pathogens in cultured fish in Ghana.

The modern and rapid avenue for detecting pathogens provided by molecular genetic techniques including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was explored in the present study to identify prevalent disease pathogens, from six aquaculture farms and in two commonly cultured fish in Ghana. The specific detection was carried out directly on clinical samples of naturally infected fish (O. niloticus and C. gariepinus) based on syber-mix reaction protocol in traditional PCR. Molecular diagnostic techniques allowed the detection of the six most common and important bacterial pathogens in aquaculture farms in Ghana. Also, three of the pathogens (Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus iniae, and Staphylococcus aureus) were simultaneously isolated in a multiplex reaction. The results indicated 90-100% sensitivity and specificity for each of the six bacterial pathogens tested. Streptococcosis and motile aeromonad septicemia were found to be highly prevalent in most aquaculture farms in Ghana with severity in infections traced to the 85.7% and 14.9% co-infections with all six target pathogens in catfish and tilapia respectively. The prevalence rate of infections significantly correlated with variations in salinity, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations in the thermal stressed condition of the culture water. Multiplex techniques employed in this study represent one of the first to be used by a fish health laboratory in Ghana for rapid detection of pathogens in diseased fish and could be a useful alternative to the culture-based method for routine diagnosis of fish diseases in Ghana.

High Prevalence of ESBL Genes in Commensal Escherichia coli of the Urinary Tract: Implications for Antibiotic Stewardship among Residents of Ghanaian Elderly Nursing Care Homes.

The emergence and spread of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) pose significant challenges to the treatment and control of urinary tract infections, particularly among vulnerable populations, such as the elderly living in nursing care homes. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of ESBL genes in commensal E. coli isolated from urine samples of 118 elderly individuals residing in Ghanaian nursing care homes. A total of 195 ESBL genes were detected among 41 E. coli isolated from the study participants. All the isolates harboured at least one ESBL gene, and the majority of them (70.1%) carried at least four ESBL genes. Among the ESBL genes detected, CTXM825 was the predominant (14.1%). In antimicrobial susceptibility testing, 65.9% of the isolates showed resistance to cefepime, a fourth-generation cephalosporin, while 56.1% showed resistance to cefotaxime, a third-generation cephalosporin. Additionally, 46.3% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant, indicating resistance to antibiotics from multiple classes. In summary, we observed relatively high rates of resistance to antibiotics as well as alarming rates of ESBL genes in the isolated pathogens. These findings emphasise the urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship and infection control programmes to mitigate the spread of multidrug-resistant pathogens in nursing care homes.