Occurence and antibacterial susceptibility of Salmonella spp. on red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans)

Abstract

In recent years, red-eared slider turtles (Trathemys scripta elegans, Wied-Neuwied, 1839) are popular among domestic pet animals, in Turkey. It is well known that intestinal microbiota of reptiles embody the types of human pathogenic Salmonella. In our country, there is no research about this issue. In this study the presence of Salmonella on red-eared slider turtles sated in pet shops in Mersin was determined. Also antibacterial susceptibilities of the isolates have been detected. For this purpose, a total of 100 cloacal swab samples of 100 turtles and 10 water samples, provided from ten pet shops, were studied. Isolation and identification of Salmonella have been carried out by conventional techniques, API20E trade system, agglutination tests for serological diagnosis, and arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR). Antibacterial susceptibility test was performed by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. As a result of this study, five Salmonella spp. have been isolated, four (4 %) from turtles, and one (10 96) from water. All the strains have been identified as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar pomona 128; y; 1.7 (z60)1. According to the results of AP-KR the genotypic structure of the isolates were identical. The antibacterial susceptibility results of the five isolates welt also identical. All isolates were sensitive to ampicillin, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, neomycin, ciprofloxacin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim; moderately sensitive to doxycycline; and resistant to amoxiclllin, erythromycin, clindamycin, lincomycin, novoblocin, penicillin, and vancomycin. To best of our knowledge, this is the first detection of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Pomona in our country. Findings of this study indicates that hygiene precautions are nessessary in contact with red eared water turtles and their paludarium water. Further investigations are necessary for protection of human heath from the risk of microbiological contaminations by pet animals.