Salmonella enterica in semi-aquatic turtles in Colombia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.1126Keywords:
Turtles, Salmonella enterica, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Zoonoses, Gene Amplification, Bacterial Typing TechniquesAbstract
Introduction: Turtles can be hosts of Salmonella enterica serovars which can cause disease both in the animals themselves and in people they come into contact with, especially when the turtles are kept as pets. To investigate the prevalence of Salmonella in turtles in Colombia, we studied animals at a wildlife protection centre. The turtles had either been confiscated or donated to the centre.
Methodology: Detection of Salmonella spp. was conducted in feces samples using bacteriological cultures and polymerase chain reaction to identify genus and serovar.
Results: By PCR and culture, 30/110 samples (27%) were positive while by PCR alone eight further samples were positive (total of 38/110 (35%) positive). The most common serovar was S. Enteritidis (26/38 (68%) with only one isolate being S. Typhimurium (3%). Four (11%) samples were positive for both serovars and seven (18%) could only be identified as Salmonella enterica spp.
Conclusions: These results show that turtles in Colombia are commonly infected with Salmonella and are a risk for infection to people who come into contact with them.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).