286
A. V. Ravi et al.
3 Use of Antibiotics and Other Chemicals to Control
Bacterial Diseases
Conventionally, to control bacterial diseases, infected animals will be fed with antibiotics and chemicals medicated supplementary diet. For finfish and shellfish, antibiotics are habitually administered in the feed, either as compounds or as surfacecoated feed pellets mixed along with oil as vehicle. Similarly, in the shrimp industry,
antibiotics are mostly used as an immersion treatment in the hatchery. In aquaculture, antibiotics at curative levels are habitually administered for short periods of
time through the oral course to groups of animals in intensive culture. Generally,
antibiotics are used in aquaculture during the production phases, both in the larval
and growth forms. The routine use of antibiotics in aquaculture is attendant with
environmental and human health concerns, including resistance among bacterial
pathogens, importunity of the disease in the marine environment. The accretion of
antibiotics and its residues in the palatable tissues of shrimp may also modify human
intestinal micro flora and cause food poisoning problems. Globally, oxytetracycline,
ciprofloxacin, florfenicol, sarafloxacin, chlortetracycline, quinolones, enrofloxacin,
norfloxacin, oxolinic acid, perfloxacin, sulfamethazine, gentamicin and tiamulin are
the most frequently used antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial diseases in salmon,
catfish, trout, other marketable fish and shrimp in aquaculture (Soto-Rodríguez et al.
2006).
In aquaculture, antimicrobial drugs are frequently mixed along with the feed or
may be added directly to the water. These procedures result in the selective pressure
to the bacteria in the exposed environments. The use of antimicrobials in aquaculture
may involve broad environmental application that affects a wide variety of bacteria.
Due to the erratic effects, various antibiotics are prohibited for aquatic animals in
the food producing sector.
4 Development of Antibiotic Resistance
In aquaculture, the unsystematic usage of antimicrobial compounds has escort the
development of antibiotic resistance among pathogens, creating serious challenges
to human health and environmental security. A number of mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance are readily spread to a variety of bacterial genera. Therefore, resistance development in disease-causing bacteria, renders the life-saving antimicrobial
compounds became ineffective (Sahu et al. 2008; Defoirdt et al. 2011). Currently,
antibiotics are only moderately successful due to the emergence of resistant bacteria
and the therapeutic treatments may have limited success in controlling infectious
bacterial diseases. As a consequence of this problem, spread of antibiotic resistance
from aquaculture settings to the natural environment is increasing. Thus, due to
the overusage, inappropriate dosing of antibiotics and the prevalence of selective
pressures, vibrios are now challenging with resistance to several broad spectrum
A. V. Ravi et al.
3 Use of Antibiotics and Other Chemicals to Control
Bacterial Diseases
Conventionally, to control bacterial diseases, infected animals will be fed with antibiotics and chemicals medicated supplementary diet. For finfish and shellfish, antibiotics are habitually administered in the feed, either as compounds or as surfacecoated feed pellets mixed along with oil as vehicle. Similarly, in the shrimp industry,
antibiotics are mostly used as an immersion treatment in the hatchery. In aquaculture, antibiotics at curative levels are habitually administered for short periods of
time through the oral course to groups of animals in intensive culture. Generally,
antibiotics are used in aquaculture during the production phases, both in the larval
and growth forms. The routine use of antibiotics in aquaculture is attendant with
environmental and human health concerns, including resistance among bacterial
pathogens, importunity of the disease in the marine environment. The accretion of
antibiotics and its residues in the palatable tissues of shrimp may also modify human
intestinal micro flora and cause food poisoning problems. Globally, oxytetracycline,
ciprofloxacin, florfenicol, sarafloxacin, chlortetracycline, quinolones, enrofloxacin,
norfloxacin, oxolinic acid, perfloxacin, sulfamethazine, gentamicin and tiamulin are
the most frequently used antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial diseases in salmon,
catfish, trout, other marketable fish and shrimp in aquaculture (Soto-Rodríguez et al.
2006).
In aquaculture, antimicrobial drugs are frequently mixed along with the feed or
may be added directly to the water. These procedures result in the selective pressure
to the bacteria in the exposed environments. The use of antimicrobials in aquaculture
may involve broad environmental application that affects a wide variety of bacteria.
Due to the erratic effects, various antibiotics are prohibited for aquatic animals in
the food producing sector.
4 Development of Antibiotic Resistance
In aquaculture, the unsystematic usage of antimicrobial compounds has escort the
development of antibiotic resistance among pathogens, creating serious challenges
to human health and environmental security. A number of mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance are readily spread to a variety of bacterial genera. Therefore, resistance development in disease-causing bacteria, renders the life-saving antimicrobial
compounds became ineffective (Sahu et al. 2008; Defoirdt et al. 2011). Currently,
antibiotics are only moderately successful due to the emergence of resistant bacteria
and the therapeutic treatments may have limited success in controlling infectious
bacterial diseases. As a consequence of this problem, spread of antibiotic resistance
from aquaculture settings to the natural environment is increasing. Thus, due to
the overusage, inappropriate dosing of antibiotics and the prevalence of selective
pressures, vibrios are now challenging with resistance to several broad spectrum