Incidence of Mycobacteria spp. in shrimp in Iraq

This study was designed to determine the incidence of in shrimp. Totally, 162 Shrimp samples (every sample was batch of 3 shrimp) were collected from Basra Governorate (24 fresh samples) and (30 frozen samples) from Baghdad. The samples were cultured on special media for mycobacteria (Lowenstein – jensen medium) and incubated at 25 oC for 8 weeks. Diagnosis of Mycobacteria species was based on rate of growth, colonies morphology, direct microscopic examination stained by acid-fast stain. The results revealed growth of bacterial isolates during 2-6 weeks that morphologically resemble mycobacterial colonies. Microscopically, acid-fast Ziehl-Neelsen staining bacteria showed red bacilli. Also, the results revealed 11 (20.3%) isolates out of 54 samples. The isolates were 9 (16.6%) of fresh samples and 2 (3.7%) from frozen samples. This is the first record of the occurrence of acid- fast bacterial infection in species of shrimp in Iraq