| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 獸醫公共衛生學研究所 === 94 === Control of salmonellosis is one of the most important issues in human and veterinary public health. The disease usually causes abdominal cramps and self-limited diarrhea. However, serious complications, such as meningitis and sepsis, may occur, especially among children less than 10 years of age, elderly people and immunocompromised patients. Most Salmonella infections are transmitted by fecal-oral route through contaminated meat, vegetables, fruits and water. The bacteria have been found in birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Due to the increasing number of exotic reptiles in popularity as pets in recent years, more human clinical cases with reptile-associated Salmonella infection were identified. In order to understand the current status of Salmonella infections in reptiles in Taiwan, this study was conducted to determine the epidemiological patterns of salmonellosis in smuggling reptiles, and pet reptiles presenting in pet shops and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, National Chung Hsing University. The results showed that Salmonella organisms were isolated from 30.9% of 476 reptiles investigated. The isolation prevalences were 69.7% (23/33), 62.8% (27/43) and 24.3% (97/400) in snakes, lizards and turtles, respectively. After serotyping, only four isolates belonged to subspecies II and the remaining ones belonged to subspecies I. Overall, 33 different Salmonella serotypes were identified in these animals. The most frequently isolated serotypes were serogroup B (25.1%) and serogroup I (11.5%). The serogroups of A, B, C, D and E that were commonly observed in humans occupied 43.9% of the Salmonella isolates from the reptiles. Broader spectrum of antimicrobial resistance was identified among S. Typhimurium, in comparison with the other Salmonella serotypes. Several animals were demonstrated to be co-infected with different Salmonella serotypes. Isolation of different Salmonella serotypes might be dependent on the isolation procedure used. Isolation procedures also determined isolation rates, as RMX method yielded the highest isolation rate in this study. On the basis of these observations, it was concluded that raising reptiles as pets could be the possible source of Salmonella infection in humans, and may eventually threaten human public health. The results will be useful for health education in people who raise or will raise reptiles as pets, and future risk assessment of Salmonella infection in humans in Taiwan.
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