Detection of Salmonella spp. from some wild captive herbivores in Iran and determination of serogroup, antibiotic susceptibility and presence of invA gene in the isolated strains

Authors

1 Microbiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar Branch, Semnan, Iran

3 Department of Agriculture Sciences, University of Payame-Noor (Pnu), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Salmonella spp. are zoonotic enteric bacteria able to infect humans, livestock and wildlife. The aim of this
study was to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella (spp.) and to determine antibiotic susceptibility,
serogrouping and presence of invA gene (Salmonella Invasion Gene A) in the detected strains in wild
captive herbivores in Iran. The fecal samples of 103 animals from 8 different species were evaluated for
presence of the Salmonella. Results indicated that 9.7% of animals were positive for Salmonella, all of these
strains belonged to D serogroup, also all the Salmonella strains harbored invA gene. In vitro antibiotic
activities of 10 antibiotic substances against the isolates were determined by disc diffusion test. The highest
rate of resistance was against Amoxicillin (100%), Tetracycline (80%), Neomycin (60%), Lincospectin
(50%) and Enrofloxacin (40%), Resistance to Furazolidone wasn’t observed. In conclusion, these species
can act as a reservoir for Salmonella. Also, since the study was conducted in some parts of Iran, a more
accurate conclusion needs more distributed sampling. To our knowledge this is the first study which reports
the fecal shedding of Salmonella from Cervus elaphus, Capra aegarus, Oryx leucoryx, Ammotragus lervia
and Lama glama in Iran.

Keywords