Veterinary Department, Eldivan Vocational School of Health Services, Çankırı Karatekin University, 18100, Çankırı, Turkey.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafkas University, 36100, Kars, Turkey.
Pol J Vet Sci. 2023 Mar;26(1):83-90. doi: 10.24425/pjvs.2023.145009.
Zoonoses are frequently associated with wild animals. Research on reptiles either living in their natural habitat or kept as pet animals has shown that these animals frequently serve as the asymptomatic hosts of bacterial zoonotic agents, including Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli. Studies have shown the potential of reptiles to transmit these pathogens to humans and other animals. Epidemiological research on the herpetofauna of various regions has demonstrated the high potential of reptiles as a reservoir of Salmonella spp. In the present study, Salmonella spp. were not isolated or identified from the snake-eyed lizard. Out of 150 cloacal swab samples of snake-eyed lizard 25 (16.7%) E. coli were isolated and out of these 4 (2.7%) were identified to be E. coli O157:H7 by PCR. The results suggest that Ophisops elegans could be involved in the transmission of E. coli, rather than Salmonella spp. This study demonstrates for the first time that the snake-eyed lizard acts as a cloacal carrier of E. coli O157:H7 and presents data that may aid in preventing the transmission of this strain to humans.
人兽共患病常与野生动物有关。对生活在自然栖息地或作为宠物饲养的爬行动物的研究表明，这些动物经常是细菌型人兽共患病原体（包括沙门氏菌和大肠杆菌）的无症状宿主。研究表明，爬行动物有将这些病原体传播给人类和其他动物的潜力。对不同地区爬行动物区系的流行病学研究表明，爬行动物作为沙门氏菌的储存库具有很大的潜力。在本研究中，没有从蛇眼蜥蜴中分离或鉴定出沙门氏菌。从 150 份蛇眼蜥蜴的泄殖腔拭子样本中分离出 25 株（16.7%）大肠杆菌，其中 4 株（2.7%）通过 PCR 鉴定为大肠杆菌 O157:H7。结果表明，蛇眼蜥蜴可能参与了大肠杆菌的传播，而不是沙门氏菌。本研究首次证明蛇眼蜥蜴是大肠杆菌 O157:H7 的泄殖腔携带者，并提供了可能有助于预防该菌株传播给人类的数据。
