In the last few decades, there has been a global increase in the adoption of reptiles as companion animals, mainly turtles and tortoises. Considering the popularity of reptiles as pets in Brazil, and a notable lack of data about potentially pathogenic staphylococci in these animals, this study isolated and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of staphylococcal species from healthy tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria) in Brazil. During a 12-month period (February 2019 to February 2020), cloacal swabs from 66 healthy tortoises were collected at the Wild Animals Screening Center in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The swabs were plated onto mannitol salt agar for staphylococci isolation, and species identification was performed using MALDI-TOF MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated using the disk diffusion method, and the presence of the mecA gene was investigated by PCR to detect methicillin resistance. Of the tested animals, 72.7% were positive for staphylococcal isolation. All isolates were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), and Staphylococcus sciuri (81.3%), and S. xylosus (12.5%) were the most frequently isolated species. The majority of the isolates (56%) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. A high frequency of resistance was observed for penicillin (35.5%) and tetracycline (29.1 %). All strains were susceptible to cefoxitin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, and gentamicin. All isolates were negative for the mecA gene. The present work suggests that healthy tortoises are mainly colonized by CoNS, especially S. sciuri. Half of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, raising questions regarding the possible role of these animals as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes.

Este trabalho, utilizando a técnica de Graham (1941), avaliou a presença de ovos de helmintos intestinais em amostras coletadas em superfícies e objetos de dois terminais aeroportuários de Minas Gerais: Carlos Drummond de Andrade (Pampulha), em Belo Horizonte, e Tancredo Neves em Confins. O interior dos aeroportos foi dividido em três grandes áreas: (1) comum, (2) de embarque e desembarque e (3) restrita a funcionários, além de uma aeronave. As coletas foram realizadas no ano de 2013. Todas as lâminas foram analisadas com a utilização de microscópio binocular nos aumentos de 10X e 40X, pela equipe técnica do Grupo de Pesquisa em Helmintologia e Malacologia Médica do Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou (Fiocruz-Minas) em Belo Horizonte. Os resultados indicaram a ausência de ovos em todas as superfícies e objetos examinados. Com base nos resultados, pode-se inferir que a manutenção, a regularidade da limpeza e a desinfecção dos ambientes dos dois aeroportos foram as principais causas da negatividade dos exames.