engleski

Salmonella from captive snakes in Croatia

Both wild and captive reptiles are considered reservoirs of numerous zoonoses, the most important of which is salmonellosis. Although the share of reptile-transmitted salmonellosis is low, it continuously increases with the increasing number of reptiles kept as pet animals. Many European and other countries recognized the risk of increasing number and popularity of reptiles as pet animals for public health and introduced a systemic monitoring in both veterinary and human medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella serovars in captive snakes in Croatia. In a period of two years a total of 146 pharyngeal, cloacal and fecal samples were taken from 90 apparently healthy snakes belonging to private owners. For laboratory cultures Brilliant Green Agar, Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate Agar and Triple Sugar Iron Agar as selective media were used and Salmonella strains were identified by serotyping. Salmonella was detected in a total of 10% snakes. A two different serovars, S. enterica subsp. arizonae and S. enterica subsp. diarizonae were the most prevalent and these serovars have already been described as infective agents in humans. To our knowledge, this is the first report about Salmonella prevalence in pet reptiles in Croatia, indicating that salmonellosis is a frequent phenomenon in captive reptiles in Croatia so that the risk of reptile-transmitted infections increases with increasing number of reptiles in captivity.

Salmonella; Snakes; Prevalence

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