Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus bacteria found on whiting and in seawater
What it found
Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus bacteria were found on wild whiting and in seawater from the English Channel and North Sea.
Some strains carried genes to resist multiple drugs at once.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Resistant bacteria on fish
Out of 238 Staphylococcus strains grown from the fish and water, all 12 of one type resisted at least one antibiotic. Among the other 226 strains, 52% resisted at least one drug.
Multi-drug resistant strains
Seven strains could survive several different types of antibiotics at once. One strain taken from seawater carried 9 resistance genes, including one that fights off cleaning chemicals used in food factories.
Methicillin resistance rare
Only about 2% of the less harmful Staphylococcus type showed resistance to methicillin-type drugs. None of the 12 S. aureus strains found had this kind of resistance.
Other findings
Where resistance was highest
More resistant bacteria turned up near river mouths along the English coast, especially the Thames and Humber rivers. Cloudier water and higher phosphate levels were linked to finding more resistant strains.
What the authors conclude
- They say wild whiting and seawater play a major part in spreading antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus through the sea.
- They warn this spread creates a risk to human health.
- Their work highlights how rivers and cloudy water influence where these resistant bacteria appear.
How it was done
Staphylococcus bacteria can cause illness, and some strains no longer respond to antibiotics. The authors wanted to see how common these resistant bacteria are in wild fish people eat and in the sea they swim in.
Scientists collected 460 whiting and 46 seawater samples from 46 spots across the English Channel and North Sea in February 2017. They grew bacteria from the fish skin, gills and water, then tested them against 16 different antibiotics.
What it can’t tell you
- These bacteria were collected from wild fish and seawater, not from people eating the fish.
- Finding resistant bacteria on raw fish does not show whether cooking removes them or whether eating the fish causes illness.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- French Agency for Food, France; Channel/North Sea Fisheries Laboratory, France
The paper
- Title
- Antimicrobial resistance and geographical distribution of Staphylococcus sp. isolated from whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and seawater in the English Channel and the North sea
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Brauge T, Bourdonnais E, Trigueros S, et al (2024). Antimicrobial resistance and geographical distribution of Staphylococcus sp. isolated from whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and seawater in the English Channel and the North sea. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123434Free full textPubMed 38290653DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error