Culturable Aerobic and Facultative Anaerobic Intestinal Bacterial Flora of Black Cobra (Naja naja karachiensis) in Southern Pakistan.

Junaid Iqbal,Mehwish Sagheer,Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui,Naveed Ahmed Khan,Nazneen Tabassum

doi:10.1155/2014/878479

Abstract

Using morphological analysis and biochemical testing, here for the first time, we determined the culturable gut bacterial flora (aerobes and facultative anaerobes) in the venomous Black Cobra (Naja naja karachiensis) from South Asia. The findings revealed that these snakes inhabit potentially pathogenic bacteria including Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shewanella putrefaciens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Salmonella sp., Moraxella sp., Bacillus sp., Ochrobactrum anthropi, and Providencia rettgeri. These findings are of concern, as injury from snake bite can result in wound infections and tissue necrosis leading to sepsis/necrotizing fasciitis and/or expose consumers of snake meat/medicine in the community to infections.

Highlights

Black Pakistani Cobra (Naja naja karachiensis.) is a highly venomous snake that is commonly found in southern parts of South Asia [1]
C4, C6, and C7 were identified as Shewanella putrefaciens, while C9 and C11 were identified as Aeromonas hydrophila, and C13 and C15 were identified as Salmonella species
The remaining four bacterial isolates tested were identified as follows: C5 was identified as Moraxella sp.; C14 was identified as Bacillus sp.; C17 was identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi; and C19 was identified as Providencia rettgeri

Summary

Introduction

Black Pakistani Cobra (Naja naja karachiensis.) is a highly venomous snake that is commonly found in southern parts of South Asia [1]. Like other Naja members, this Cobra species found in southern Pakistan produces potent venom, which is a major contributor in snake bite-related deaths in South Asia [2]. Lam et al [3] addressed this concern by determining oral bacterial flora from snakes that were freshly captured from the wild and fasted before sample collection, but even contamination from prey-bacteria cannot be ruled out. The overall aim of the present study was to determine the gut bacterial flora of Black Pakistani Cobra (Naja naja karachiensis) found in southern Pakistan [1]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion