Salmonella infection in healthy pet reptiles: Bacteriological isolation and study of some pathogenic characters

Abstract

The fecal samples from 213 captive reptiles were examined, and 29 (13.61%) Salmonella enterica isolates were detected: 14/62 (22.58%) from chelonians, 14/135 (10.37%) from saurians, and 1/16 (6.25%) from ophidians. The isolates were distributed among 14 different serotypes: Miami, Ebrie, Hermannsweder, Tiergarten, Tornov, Pomona, Poona, Goteborg, Abaetetube, Nyanza, Kumasi, Typhimurium, 50:b:z 6 , 9,12:z 29 :1,5, and a non-motile serotype with antigenic formula 1,4,[5],12:-:-. Salmonella typhimurium and 50:b:z 6 isolates showed the spv plasmid virulence genes, responsible of the capability to induce extra-intestinal infections. In some cases, pulsed field gel electrophoresis revealed different profiles for the strains of the same serotypes, showing different origins, whereas a common source of infection was supposed when one pulsotype had been observed for isolates of a serovar. Twentyseven (93.10%) isolates showed resistance to one or more antibiotics. Ceftazidime was active to all the tested isolates, whereas the highest percentages of strains were no susceptible to tigecycline (93.10%), streptomycin (89.66%), and sulfonamide (86.21%).

Prevalence and characteristics of Salmonella species isolated from captive reptiles in the Czech Republic

“…The highest level of resistance in this study was observed for streptomycin (7.7%). Resistance to this antibiotic in Salmonella strains derived from reptiles was noted by a number of other authors (Seepersadsingh and Adesiyun 2003;Chen et al 2010;Barazorda Romero et al 2015;Bertelloni et al 2016). A low prevalence of tetracycline resistance was detected in this study (2.6%), which is in agreement with published results (Ebani et al 2005;Sylvester et al 2014).…”

“…of about 19% in the studied reptiles. Available literature sources have reported varying levels of prevalence, namely, 54.1% in Germany and Austria (Geue and Loschner 2002), 32.6% in Poland (Piasecki et al 2014), 49% in Sweden (Wikstrom et al 2014), 13% in Croatia (Lukac et al 2015), 30.9% in Taiwan (Chen et al 2010) and 13.6% in Italy (Bertelloni et al 2016). Our results did not differ significantly from those obtained in other countries.…”

“…Another factor may be the low prevalence of resistant strains in the reptile feed. While a high proportion of sensitive strains was also reported by other authors (Geue and Loschner 2002;Gay et al 2014;Sylvester et al 2014), there are studies showing an increased prevalence of resistant and multi-drug-resistant strains in reptiles (Ebani et al 2005;Chen et al 2010;Bertelloni et al 2016). The highest level of resistance in this study was observed for streptomycin (7.7%).…”

Pathotypes and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Escherichia Coli Isolated from Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Tuscany

“…Almost half of our isolates (44.6%) showed resistance to tetracycline. Resistance to this antimicrobial has been frequently found in pathogens and commensal bacteria from domestic [16,[63][64][65][66] and wild [58,60,67] animals. Even if β-lactams and tetracycline belong to different antibiotic classes, there could be some shared considerations.…”

Quinolone susceptibility and genetic characterization of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica isolated from pet turtles

“…has also been isolated from Russian tortoises and spur-thighed tortoises [2223]. Another recent study recorded antibiotic-resistant S. enterica isolated from chelonians which were also harboring some virulence genes in their plasmids [24]. Besides, S. enterica could be isolated from several popular species of pet turtles and their environment indicating a potential risk of infection to turtle keepers [25].…”