title: Russian tortoises (Agrionemys horsfieldi) as a potential reservoir for Salmonella spp.
abstract: A total of 80 Russian tortoises brought in Poland were examined for presence of Salmonella. Salmonella was detected in 15 out of all the animals tested (18.75%). Of the total of 56 strains, 30 (53.57%) belonged to Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (I) and 26 to Salmonella enterica subsp. salamae (II). The predominant serotype within subspecies I was S. Newport, which is one of the most serotypes causing salmonellosis in humans and warm-blooded animals. In vitro determination of the susceptibility of Salmonella to the 10 medicinal preparations showed that all tested strains were sensitive to norfloxacin, sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim, florfenicol, gentamicin, tetracycline and ampicillin, resistance was noted only to amoxicillin with clavulanic acid (12 strains), and intermediate sensitivity to colistin (7 strains), enrofloxacin (2 strains) and cephalexin (5 strains). These studies confirmed that Russian tortoises are a significant reservoir for Salmonella and may represent a potential source of infection for humans.
authors.affiliation: University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Biological Bases of Animal Diseases, Sub-Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Akademicka 12, 20-033 Lublin, Poland. anowakiewicz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nowakiewicz
authors.forename: Grażyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ziółkowska
authors.forename: Przemysław
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zięba
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stępniewska
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tokarzewski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D057805:Pets / Q000382:microbiology; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014426:Turtles / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents