Salmonella is mostly noted as a food-borne pathogen, but contact with chelonians has also been reported as a source of infection. Moreover, high levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have been reported in Salmonella isolated from wild and captive reptiles. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of Salmonella AMR carriage by chelonians admitted to two zoological institutions in Spain, characterizing the isolates to assess the Salmonella AMR epidemiology in wildlife. To this end, 152 chelonians from nine species were sampled upon their arrival at the zoological nuclei. Salmonella identification was based on ISO 6579-1:2017 (Annex D), isolates were serotyped and their AMR analysed according to the EU Decision 2013/652. Moreover, the genetic relationship of the isolates was assessed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results showed 19% (29/152) of the chelonians positive to Salmonella, all of them tortoises. For all isolates, 69% (20/29) were resistant and 34% (10/29) multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. PFGE clustered isolates according to the serovar, confirming a low genetic diversity. In conclusion, this study shows a high presence of MDR Salmonella strains in tortoises at their entry into zoological nuclei. This condition highlights the need to establish Salmonella detection protocols for the entry of animals into these centres.

Infectious and inflammatory diseases are the most frequently diagnosed pathologies in elasmobranchs maintained under human care. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently used in veterinary medicine for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic properties. Meloxicam is a commonly prescribed NSAID in elasmobranchs, but there are still no published pharmacokinetic (PK) studies supporting its use in this group of animals. In this study, meloxicam was administered at a single dose of 0.5 mg/kg to eight healthy adult nursehound sharks (Scyliorhinus stellaris) intravenously (IV), intramuscularly (IM), and orally (PO), with a minimum 4-week washout period between administrations. Blood samples were obtained both beforehand and at predetermined times after each administration. Plasma concentrations were measured using a validated high performance liquid chromatography method, and PK data was obtained using a non-compartmental analysis. Meloxicam administered orally did not produce detectable concentrations in blood plasma, while mean peak plasma concentration was 0.38 ± 0.08 μg/ml after IM administration. The mean terminal half-life was 10.71 ± 2.77 h and 11.27 ± 3.96 h for IV and IM injections, respectively. The area under the curve extrapolated to infinity was 11.37 ± 2.29 h·μg/ml after IV injections and 5.98 ± 0.90 h·μg/ml after IM injections. Meloxicam administered IM had a mean absolute bioavailability of 56.22 ± 13.29%. These numbers support meloxicam as a promising drug to be used IM in nursehounds, questions the efficacy of its single PO use in elasmobranchs, elucidate the need for higher dosage regimes, and evidence the need for further PK studies in sharks and rays.

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