Biocontrol of Acinetobacter baumannii-S-MH Using Bacteriophages Isolated from Sewage Water

The aim of this study is to isolate and characterize bacteriophages, as an alternative solution against multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-S-MHbacteria causing an outbreak in hospital environments and intensive care units (ICUs). Here, biochemically; isolating and characterizing Acinetobacter baumannii-S-MHby the automated Vitek 2 system. Isolated Acinetobacter baumannii -S-MHbacteria was tested against a collection of Antibiotics by Antibiotic sensitivity test. Acinetobacter baumannii showed resistance to most of the antibiotics tested. To overcome this problem, Acinetobacter baumannii's phage (VB_AciM-AM-M) was isolated, identified, and applied to control the growth of this opportunistic pathogen. Morphologically, phage was identified by TEM; showed that (VB_AciM-AM-M) phage is shaped Myoviridae morphotype. The one-step growth curve of the phage showed burst sizes of 290 PFU/cell with a latent period of 20 minutes for (VB_AciM-AM-M) phage. Complete inhibition of bacterial growth was achieved using phage with MOIs of 1, 3 and 5 after 1, 3, and 24 h. of incubation at 37°C. Hence, this study indicates that the isolated bacteriophages are promising biocontrol agents that could challenge antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-S-MHbacteria to announce new successful alternatives to antibiotics.