Amphibians and reptiles as a source of Salmonella – a review of Salmonella outbreaks in a period of last ten years

• Main Authors: Drozdz, Mateusz, Bugla-Plooskonska, Gabriela
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2018
• Subjects: salmonellosis; reptiles; amphibians; transmission; Animal Diseases; Bacterial Infections and Mycoses; Epidemiology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/asrf/2018/schedule/161; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=asrf

Salmonellosis is a serious problem of public health that mainly infants, young children and people with immunodeficiencies face. Human direct contact with animals is one of the possible ways of transmission of the disease. An increasing trend of keeping exotic pets, including amphibians and reptiles, has been observed for recent years in the United States and developing European countries. Most of these animals are asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella. However, in this review we introduced new and the most dangerous outbreaks of salmonellosis caused by contact with amphibians and reptiles that appeared in all continents in last ten years. It was demonstrated that Salmonella strains isolated from cold-blooded animals such as animals and reptiles differ genetically from strains isolated from humans. It means that the reason of appearance of Salmonella outbreaks caused by transmission of pathogens from amphibians or reptiles to human are genetic changes including the activation of virulence factors that cause pathogenicity in humans. It is supposed that popularity of keeping amphibians and reptiles as pets has caused an increase in the demand for these animals and in the international trade of these species. The problem is also caused by breeder's unconsciousness of proper procedures of keeping exotic animals in a household. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has censored the most important issues to minimize the risk of salmonellosis, focusing mainly on RAS salmonellosis (reptile – associated salmonellosis), because this disease is the most common in the United States. It is estimated that about 74,000 of the United States citizens are getting infected by Salmonella strains transmitted from reptiles kept as pets every year. Educating people on this topic is a key preventive method of salmonellosis. This review can help future breeders how to keep reptiles and amphibians according to recommendation of World Health Organization.