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

Z. Tomastikova, S. Barazorda Romero, Z. Knotek and R. Karpiskova
Additional contact information
Z. Tomastikova: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
S. Barazorda Romero: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Z. Knotek: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
R. Karpiskova: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic

Veterinární medicína, 2017, vol. 62, issue 8, 456-469

Abstract: This study was aimed at determining the prevalence and characterising the strains of Salmonella species in various captive reptiles in the Czech Republic. A total of 211 samples of cloacal swabs from lizards, chelonians and snakes, and 14 swabs from terraria surfaces were collected between November 2014 and July 2015. After isolation according to the reference method (EN ISO), Salmonella spp. isolates were characterised using serotyping and macrorestriction analysis followed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Altogether, 39 isolates were obtained from 29 (19%) reptiles and from terraria surfaces. Among the different reptilian species, Salmonella spp. were found in 22 (25.6%) lizards, three (17.6%) snakes and four (8%) chelonians with 31 isolates classified as Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica and eight isolates classified as Salmonella enterica subsp. salamae. In total, 14 different serotypes were detected, with the most frequent serotypes being Salmonella Oranienburg, S. Fluntern, S. Tennessee and S. Cotham. Resistance to one antimicrobial agent (ampicillin, tetracycline or streptomycin) was detected in five isolates. The results of the macrorestriction analysis within the serotype groups showed varying level of heterogeneity. This study confirms that reptiles kept as pets can be both carriers and reservoirs of Salmonella spp., and that they can harbour various serotypes with intermittent excretion of the bacteria in faeces. Half of the detected serotypes have been involved in human reptile-associated salmonellosis cases in the past. S. enterica subsp. salamae serotype O:1,13,23;H:z29;H:1,5, monophasic S. enterica subsp. salamae serotype O:40;H:g,t;H:- and its biphasic form (S. enterica subsp. salamae serotype O:40;H:g,t;H:1,5) have apparently been isolated from reptiles for the first time in this study.

Keywords: reptile-associated salmonellosis; serotyping; macrorestriction analysis; antimicrobial susceptibility; reptile species (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/44/2017-VETMED.html (text/html)
http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/44/2017-VETMED.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:62:y:2017:i:8:id:44-2017-vetmed

DOI: 10.17221/44/2017-VETMED

Access Statistics for this article

Veterinární medicína is currently edited by Ing. Helena Smolová Ph.D.

More articles in Veterinární medicína from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().