Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for aerobic bacteria isolated from reptilian samples submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory: 129 cases (2005–2016)

Tang, Pak Kan; Divers, Stephen J.; Sanchez, Susan

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To identify antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for aerobic bacteria isolated from reptilian samples and, from those patterns, identify antimicrobials that could be considered for empirical treatment of reptiles with suspected bacte- rial infections.
SAMPLES
129 bacterial isolates from 61 of 127 samples from 96 reptiles.
PROCEDURES
Medical records of reptiles (chelonian, crocodilian, lizard, and snake) pre- sented to the zoological medical service of a veterinary teaching hospital between January 2005 and December 2016 were reviewed for submissions of patient samples for aerobic bacterial culture and susceptibility testing. Sample type, presence or absence of bacterial growth, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of isolated bacteria were recorded. The isolation frequency and the antimicrobial susceptibilities of bacterial genera and species were tabulated.
RESULTS
Pseudomonas spp and Enterococcus spp were the most frequently isolated gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, respectively. Isolates of gram- negative bacteria frequently had susceptibility to amikacin (86%), gentami- cin (95%), tobramycin (92%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (83%), and gram-positive bacteria frequently had susceptibility to ampicillin (83%), chloramphenicol (92%), doxycycline (100%), and gentamicin (100%). Iso- lates of gram-positive bacteria were consistently resistant to ceftazidime.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Aerobic bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility results for rep- tilian samples in this population indicated that aminoglycosides and trim- ethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or ampicillin and doxycycline could be con- sidered as options for the empirical treatment of reptiles with infections caused by gram-negative or gram-positive bacteria, respectively. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2020;257:305–312)

Citation

Tang, P. K., Divers, S. J., & Sanchez, S. (2020). Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for aerobic bacteria isolated from reptilian samples submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory: 129 cases (2005–2016). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 257(3), 305-312. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.257.3.305

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 12, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 1, 2021
• Journal: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
• Print ISSN: 0003-1488
• Electronic ISSN: 1943-569X
• Publisher: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 257
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 305-312
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.257.3.305
• Keywords: General Veterinary
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1441916
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.257.3.305