Potential Pathogens in the Environment: Isolation, Enumeration, and Identification of Seven Genera of Intestinal Bacteria Associated with Small Green Pet Turtles

Abstract

Bacteriological analyses were performed on fecal swabs and the aquarium water of 27 individually purchased specimens of the small green pet turtle, Pseudemys scripta elegans . Representatives of Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Salmonella , and Serratia were isolated. Enterobacter, Klebsiella , and Salmonella were encountered in 20% or more of the specimens, whereas Aeromonas was isolated from 63%. Klebsiella pneumoniae counts ranged from 10 3 to 10 4 per milliliter of aquarium water, whereas Aeromonas routinely exceeded 10 4 per milliliter. Aeromonas cultures from turtles were identical to 7 human isolates in some 29 biochemical tests. On the basis of our findings, we question whether the Salmonella -free certification program alone is sufficient to render these reptiles as safe pets.

Short Term Microbial Colonization of Reptile Roadkill

“…The majority of plates and isolates included several types of environmental bacteria, including Gordonia, and the non-pathogenic Bacillus. In this study, we also observed Serratia, a soil bacterium which can be pathogenic in some nematodes and insects (Kwak et al, 2015), an opportunistic pathogen in humans (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997), and previously detected in the Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans (McCoy and Seidler, 1973) and Green Sea Turtles, Chelonia mydas (Santoro et al, 2006). Another isolate we identified, Chryseobacterium, is a pathogenic and prolific soil bacterium which may be a health risk for immune-compromised individuals (Bhalla et al, 2018).…”

“…While the study of reptile carcass microbiology is limited, much of the focus in bacterial communities in reptiles has focused on detection and prevalence of the Salmonella bacteria (McCoy and Seidler, 1973) in turtles, which we did not detect. Out of the eleven isolates selected for sequencing, nine of them were able to be identified with some degree of certainty using 16S rRNA sequencing.…”

Microflora and parasitofauna of alien and invasive turtle species

“…Pomimo to, wyniki badań naukowych nie są kompletne i jednoznaczne. Często rozbieżne wnioski z takich analiz mogą wynikać ze stosowania różnych metod diagnostycznych, takich jak badania bakteriologiczne i serologiczne [11,13,23,29,43] lub wykrywanie materiału genetycznego zarazka metodą PCR [22,27,57,69], czy też wykorzystywania różnych rodzajów próbek (kał, wymazy z kloaki lub karapaksu, błona śluzowa jelit, osad z terrarium) [22,30,45,57,64]. Nie bez znaczenia na różnorodność otrzymywanych wyników badań laboratoryjnych ma też miejsce pochodzenia zwierząt: hodowle, ogrody zoologiczne lub środowisko -tak ich naturalnego zasięgu geograficznego, jak i obszarów, na których są one gatunkami obcymi.…”

“…enterica 4,5:b:-, S. Oranienburg, S. Fluntern oraz S. Tennessee, przy czym ten pierwszy wraz z S. Minnesota został wyizolowany również od osobnika zaliczanego do gatunku inwazyjnego [75]. W większości opublikowanych badań diagnostyka zakażeń żółwi ograniczała się jednak do samego wykrycia zarazka, bez jego pełnej identyfikacji serologicznej [22,45,57]. Fakt ten, w połączeniu z przekraczającą 2500 liczbą serowarów Salmonella [36] świadczy o niewystarczającym poziomie wiedzy dotyczącej epidemiologii Salmonella spp.…”

Exotic Reptiles in the Pet Trade: Are They a Threat to New Zealand?

“…Due to the intermittent excretion, it is difficult to determine if the bacteria have indeed been eliminated (Chiodini and Sundberg 1981) and there are concerns that treatment may also lead to antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella (D' Aoust et al 1990). As many reptiles carry Salmonella with no apparent ill effects, it has been suggested that it is part of the normal bacterial flora of these animals (McCoy and Seidler 1973). Importantly, reptiles are not the only organisms which can act as vectors of Salmonella and possibly introduce novel serovars into New Zealand.…”