First Report of Human Pathogenic Vibrio fluvialis Isolated from Penaeus monodon in Bangladesh

This is the first time to document the isolation of Vibrio fluvialis from shrimp samples in Bangladesh with special reference to its emergence as a future aquaculture and food safety pathogen. V. fluvialis is a human pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and extraintestinal infections but is not well documented in shrimp. This research was conducted under two major projects: (i) the University Grant Commission, Bangladesh-funded project, "Epidemiological Surveillance of Disease Prevalence in Shrimp Farms of Bangladesh: Farmer Participatory and Serological Approach" to explain pathogen dynamics and associated risk factors in shrimp aquacultureand; and (ii) the collaborative project between Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), UK and Bangladesh Agricultural University entitled "Shrimp Health in Coastal Aquaculture of Bangladesh," with the focus on disease risk evaluation and the improvement of health management practices in shrimp aquaculture.The primary goal of this study is to document the genomic traits, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and virulence determinants of V. fluvialis of shrimp farms via whole genome sequencing. Genomic data will provide insight into the population structure, genetic diversity, and potential zoonotic importance of V. fluvialis in shrimp. By describing some of the genes that affect pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance, we plan to study the public health consequence of harboring this bacterium in aquaculture. Through comparative genomic analysis, the genomic similarity between Bangladeshi isolates and globally reported strains will also come to light, and on the basis of such similarity, we plan to trace back the likely origin points and spread channels of V. fluvialis in shrimp culture. The consequences of this work extend beyond Bangladesh, as the isolation of an established human pathogen from shrimp provides the potential for foodborne transmission and aquaculture biosecurity issues. The genomic data produced will be deposited into global databases to inform future research into V. fluvialis epidemiology and risk assessment. Moreover, our study will help policymakers and members of the aquaculture industry to devise effective control strategies to ensure less risk of bacterial contamination of seafood. By making the whole genome sequence data publicly available in the NCBI database, we expect to facilitate worldwide collaboration and enhance our understanding of V. fluvialis genomics in aquatic environments.