Sala Andrea, Di Ianni Francesco, Pelizzone Igor, Bertocchi Mara, Santospirito Davide, Rogato Francesco, Flisi Sara, Spadini Costanza, Iemmi Tiziano, Moggia Emanuele, Parmigiani Enrico, Cavirani Sandro, Taddei Simone, Cabassi Clotilde S
Department of Veterinary Science, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Veterinary Practitioner DVM, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
PeerJ. 2019 Apr 12;7:e6706. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6706. eCollection 2019.
Snakes are globally considered as pet animals, and millions of ophidians are bred in captivity. is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium that can act as an opportunistic pathogen of man and animals and is frequently present in the oral and cloacal microbiota of healthy ophidians. It can cause severe clinical diseases and often shows antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles of isolated from the cloacal microbiota of a large population sample of healthy captive ophidians and to evaluate the statistical associations with farming conditions.
A total of 419 cloacal swabs were collected from snakes belonging to the Boidae ( = 45), Colubridae ( = 48) and Pythonidae ( = 326) families and inoculated onto complete culture media. Food, water and bedding samples were also analyzed. The antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates was evaluated through the Kirby-Bauer agar diffusion test. Statistical analyses were performed with the chi-square test.
The prevalence of was 59.9%, and 35.5% of these strains were multidrug resistant (MDR). The prevalence of MDR was significantly higher in adult samples than in young samples, and widespread resistance to Cephalosporins, Polymyxins and Sulfonamides was observed. Statistically significant differences in the prevalence of were observed depending on the farm size and snake family Feeding thawed prey was associated with a higher and MDR prevalence. Moreover, snakes fed home-raised prey had a significantly higher MDR prevalence than snakes fed commercially available feed. Less frequent terrarium cleaning was associated with a higher MDR prevalence. On the other hand, snake reproductive status was not significantly associated with or MDR prevalence. All food, water and bedding samples were negative for presence.
The overall prevalence found in this study was lower than that found by other authors, but a high proportion of the isolates were MDR. This study highlighted the presence of constitutive (such as age and taxonomic family) and managerial (farm size, cleaning cycle frequency and food type) factors associated with and/or MDR prevalence. Good breeding management and proper antibiotic treatment of infections could help reduce the presence of and MDR in the gut microbiota of snakes and consequently reduce the risk to public health.
蛇在全球范围内被视为宠物，数百万条蛇被人工饲养。[细菌名称]是一种普遍存在的革兰氏阴性菌，可作为人和动物的机会致病菌，经常存在于健康蛇类的口腔和泄殖腔微生物群中。它可导致严重的临床疾病，且常常表现出抗生素耐药性。本研究的目的是评估从大量健康圈养蛇类的泄殖腔微生物群中分离出的[细菌名称]的流行情况和抗生素耐药谱，并评估与养殖条件的统计关联。
从蟒科（n = 45）、游蛇科（n = 48）和蚺科（n = 326）的蛇类中总共采集了419份泄殖腔拭子，并接种到完全培养基上。还对食物、水和垫料样本进行了分析。通过 Kirby-Bauer 琼脂扩散试验评估[细菌名称]分离株的抗菌药敏性。采用卡方检验进行统计分析。
[细菌名称]的流行率为59.9%，其中35.5%的菌株为多重耐药（MDR）。成年样本中MDR[细菌名称]的流行率显著高于幼年样本，并且观察到对头孢菌素、多粘菌素和磺胺类药物的广泛耐药。根据养殖场规模和蛇的科属，观察到[细菌名称]流行率存在统计学显著差异。喂食解冻猎物与[细菌名称]和MDR[细菌名称]的较高流行率相关。此外，喂食自家饲养猎物的蛇的MDR[细菌名称]流行率显著高于喂食市售饲料的蛇。饲养箱清洁频率较低与较高的MDR[细菌名称]流行率相关。另一方面，蛇的繁殖状态与[细菌名称]或MDR[细菌名称]的流行率没有显著关联。所有食物、水和垫料样本中均未检测到[细菌名称]。
本研究中发现的[细菌名称]总体流行率低于其他作者的研究结果，但分离株中有很大比例为MDR。本研究强调了与[细菌名称]和/或MDR[细菌名称]流行率相关的固有因素（如年龄和分类科属）和管理因素（养殖场规模、清洁周期频率和食物类型）的存在。良好的养殖管理和对[细菌名称]感染进行适当的抗生素治疗有助于减少蛇肠道微生物群中[细菌名称]和MDR[细菌名称]的存在，从而降低对公共卫生的风险。
