Abstract
ABSTRACT: In the last few decades, there has been a global increase in the adoption of reptiles as companion animals, mainly turtles and tortoises. Considering the popularity of reptiles as pets in Brazil, and a notable lack of data about potentially pathogenic staphylococci in these animals, this study isolated and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of staphylococcal species from healthy tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria) in Brazil. During a 12-month period (February 2019 to February 2020), cloacal swabs from 66 healthy tortoises were collected at the Wild Animals Screening Center in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The swabs were plated onto mannitol salt agar for staphylococci isolation, and species identification was performed using MALDI-TOF MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated using the disk diffusion method, and the presence of the mecA gene was investigated by PCR to detect methicillin resistance. Of the tested animals, 72.7% were positive for staphylococcal isolation. All isolates were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), and Staphylococcus sciuri (81.3%), and S. xylosus (12.5%) were the most frequently isolated species. The majority of the isolates (56%) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. A high frequency of resistance was observed for penicillin (35.5%) and tetracycline (29.1 %). All strains were susceptible to cefoxitin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, and gentamicin. All isolates were negative for the mecA gene. The present work suggests that healthy tortoises are mainly colonized by CoNS, especially S. sciuri. Half of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, raising questions regarding the possible role of these animals as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes.
Highlights
In the last few decades, there has been a global increase in the adoption of reptiles as companion animals
These animals can act as reservoirs and potential disseminators of pathogenic microorganisms, including Salmonella spp., pathogenic Escherichia coli, and Leptospira spp., and can contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes (EBANI, 2017; RAMOS et al, 2019)
S. xylosus and S. kloosii presented resistance to penicillin G and tetracycline and S. saprophyticus presented resistance to tetracycline and Despite the clear increase in the adoption of reptiles as pets, including tortoises, few studies have focused on the role of these species as a reservoir of bacterial pathogens
Summary
In the last few decades, there has been a global increase in the adoption of reptiles as companion animals. CoPS are responsible for most infections, whereas CoNS represent most commensal staphylococci from different hosts and are involved in infections in a variety of species, including humans (DIMITRIOU et al, 2011; WALLER et al, 2011; BIEROWIEC et al, 2019). In addition to this pathogenic potential, CoNS have the ability to acquire, harbor, and transfer resistance genes to other staphylococci, and even to other bacterial species (OTTO, 2013; BECKER et al, 2014)
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