First Experimental Evidence for the Presence of Potentially Toxic in Snails, and Virulence, Cross-Resistance and Genetic Diversity of the Bacterium in 36 Species of Aquatic Food Animals.

is the most common waterborne pathogen that can cause pandemic cholera in humans. Continuous monitoring of contamination in aquatic products is crucial for assuring food safety. In this study, we determined the virulence, cross-resistance between antibiotics and heavy metals, and genetic diversity of isolates from 36 species of aquatic food animals, nearly two-thirds of which have not been previously detected. None of the isolates (n = 203) harbored the cholera toxin genes (0.0%). However, isolates carrying virulence genes (0.98%), (0.5%), and (0.5%) were discovered, which originated from the snail . High occurrences were observed for virulence-associated genes, including (73.4%), (68.0-41.9%), (54.2%), and (37.9%). Resistance to moxfloxacin (74.9%) was most predominant resistance among the isolates, followed by ampicillin (59.1%) and rifampicin (32.5%). Approximately 58.6% of the isolates displayed multidrug resistant phenotypes. Meanwhile, high percentages of the isolates tolerated the heavy metals Hg (67.0%), Pb (57.6%), and Zn (57.6%). Distinct virulence and cross-resistance profiles were discovered among the isolates in 13 species of aquatic food animals. The ERIC-PCR-based genome fingerprinting of the 203 isolates revealed 170 ERIC-genotypes, which demonstrated considerable genomic variation among the isolates. Overall, the results of this study provide useful data to fill gaps for policy and research related to the risk assessment of contamination in aquatic products.