Comparative assessment of bioload of healthy and diseased Oreochromis niloticus as means of food security

• Main Authors: Toochukwu Ekwutosi OGBULIE, Harriet Chinyelu NWIGWE, Sylvia Onyinyechi ANYADOH
• Format: Publication
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oradea Publishing House 2011
• Subjects: bacterial load; comparative assessment; diseased fish; healthy fish; helminth load; Nigeria; organs; Otamiri

Thirty-one (31) samples each of diseased and healthy Tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) from Otamiri River, in Nekede, Owerri West; Imo State Nigeria was examined to detect the presence of bacterial and helminth fauna. The intestine, liver, gill, tissue and skin of the fish were examined. Bacteriological analysis revealed counts of healthy diseased organs to fall between 6.0 x 104 – 3.5 x 107 cfu/g and 5.7 x 106 – 1.9 x 1011 cfu/g respectively. The result however indicated that the bacterial load of the diseased fish samples were higher than those of the apparently healthy fish. Identification tests of the probable bacterial isolates revealed the isolation of Vibrio sp, Renibacterium sp, Aeromonas sp, Klebsiella sp, Yersinia sp, Pseudomonas sp, Nocardia sp, Lactobacillus sp, Sporocytophaga, Staphylococcus sp, Mycobacterium sp, Serratia sp Proteus sp and Edwardsiella sp. Twenty-nine (29 ie 46.8%) of the 62 samples studied were found to be infected by helminth fauna identified as Camallanus sp, Procamallanus beviconchus, Capillaria sp, Clinostonium tilapiae, Euclinostonium heterostoma, Cleidodiscus sp and Bothricephalus acheilognathi. Percentage helminth infestation was found to be higher in males than females with sub adults recording the highest infection rate of 56.08%. Hence helminth infestation varies amongst age group. This study therefore reveals the bacterial & helminth load of cultured organs of Oreochromis niloticus with a view to provide information on the state of environmental and personal hygiene in the environment, the level of contamination of water and the security and/or insecurity nature of using fish as food.