Quality of Antimicrobial Products Used in Striped Catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) Aquaculture in Vietnam

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 21;10(4):e0124267. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124267. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Antimicrobial usage is common in Asian aquaculture. This study aimed to determine the quality of antimicrobial products used by Vietnamese striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) farmers. Twenty one antimicrobial products (11 products contained a single antimicrobial and 10 products contained a mixture of two different antimicrobials) commonly used by catfish farmers were obtained from so-called chemical shops located in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry was used to analyze concentration of sulfonamides, trimethoprim, amoxicillin, cefalexin and ciprofloxacin whereas concentrations of florfenicol and doxycycline were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV detection. Results revealed that only 4/11 products with a single antimicrobial and 2/10 products with a mixture of antimicrobials contained active substances within ±10% of the concentration declared on the product label. Two products with antimicrobial mixtures did not contain any of the declared antimicrobials. Comparing two batches, analysis of 11 products revealed that only one product contained a concentration of active compound that varied with less than 10% in both batches. Several product labels provided inadequate information on how to calculate therapeutic dosage and further stated withdrawal time despite lack of pharmacokinetic data on the antimicrobials in catfish. There is an urgent need to strengthen approval procedures and in particular regularly to monitor the quality of antimicrobials used in Vietnamese aquaculture.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amoxicillin / analysis
  • Amoxicillin / standards
  • Animals
  • Anti-Infective Agents / analysis*
  • Anti-Infective Agents / standards
  • Aquaculture
  • Catfishes*
  • Cephalexin / analysis
  • Cephalexin / standards
  • Ciprofloxacin / analysis
  • Ciprofloxacin / standards
  • Doxycycline / analysis
  • Doxycycline / standards
  • Quality Control
  • Reference Standards
  • Sulfonamides / analysis
  • Sulfonamides / standards
  • Thiamphenicol / analogs & derivatives
  • Thiamphenicol / analysis
  • Thiamphenicol / standards
  • Trimethoprim / analysis
  • Trimethoprim / standards
  • Veterinary Drugs / analysis*
  • Veterinary Drugs / standards
  • Vietnam

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Sulfonamides
  • Veterinary Drugs
  • Ciprofloxacin
  • Amoxicillin
  • florfenicol
  • Trimethoprim
  • Thiamphenicol
  • Doxycycline
  • Cephalexin

Grants and funding

The work presented received financial and other support from the EU-funded FP7 project “Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade” (SEAT project number 222889; www.seatglobal.eu). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.