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Abstract The current study aimed to assess the prevalence of Enterococcus and Pseudomonas species isolated from some farmed fish species, including Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Brush tooth lizard (Saurida undosquamis), Horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), and Red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) sold in Zagazig city, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Additionally, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed for Enterococcus and Pseudomonas species using the disc diffusion method. Furthermore, multiplex PCR was performed to identify virulence-associated genes of Enterococcus faecalis isolates. The results indicated contamination of the examined fish with various Enterococcus with an overall total prevalence of 52.5% and Pseudomonas species with total prevalence 66.25%. The identified Enterococcus species were E. faecalis (26.25%), E. faecium (15%), and E. hirae, E. raffinosus, and E. durans (3.75% for each). The identified pseudomonas species were P. Flurescence (22.5%), P. Fragi , P. Aeruginosa (13.75% for each) , P. Proteo (11.25%) and P.Lund (5%) . The antibiotic sensitivity test revealed variable resistance patterns of the retrieved Enterococcus isolates to various antimicrobial agents, such as kanamycin (100%), clindamycin (76.9%), sulfamethoxazole (69.2%), ampicillin (69.2%), and colistin (61.5%). Pseudomonas strains were resistant to erythromycin (100%), ampicillin (92.9%), vancomycin and colistin (85.7% for each) and tetracycline (64.3%). PCR screening of virulence genes revealed that E. faecalis harbored sodA (100%), gelE (83.3%), and ace (50%) genes. Consequently, urgent measures are needed to implement hygienic practices to control microbial contamination in both the aquatic environment and fish markets. |