Salmonella enterica subspecies houtenae okozta heveny vérfertőzés vörösfarkú boában (Boa constrictor)

Abstract

ÖSSZEFOGLALÁS A szerzők hazánkban elsőként állapítottak meg egy kifejlett, gravid, tojócsövében részben terméketlen és bomlásnak induló tüszőket is hordozó vörösfarkú boában heveny septicaemiával járó salmonellosist. A baktérium a tipizálása során Salmonella enterica subspecies houtenae (IV.)51:z4,z23:- baktériumtörzsnek bizonyult. A kígyóban a megbetegedést és az elhullást a graviditás mint lehetséges hajlamosító tényező válthatta ki. SUMMARY Background: Reptiles are considered asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella, however clinical infection caused by the bacteria occasionally occurs. A deceased, gravid female red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor) was brought to the Department of Exotic Animal-, Wildlife-, Fish- and Honeybee Medicine for necropsy, showing only general clinical signs a week before its death. Objectives: Examination of the gross pathological lesions revealed acute septicaemia. The authors found suffusions under the serous membranes and pseudomembrane formation throughout the body. Acute inflammatory-necrotic areas were also visible on the spleen and the liver. Materials and Methods: The authors performed the pathological examination using standard reptile necropsy techniques. Histological and microbiological samples were taken from the liver and the spleen. These were cultured on Columbia blood agar and Drigalski agar, after which they were incubated for 24 hours at 37°C. The colony morphology, together with the pathological symptoms, raised the suspicion of Salmonella infection. The authors used buffered peptone water for non-selective enrichment at 37°C for 24 hours. After that, selective media, MSRV and Rambach agar were used to detect Salmonella; the samples were incubated at 41 °C for 24 hours. Serotyping was done using the slide agglutination method according to the White-Kauffmann-Le Minor scheme. Histological sections from the spleen and liver were stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Results and Discussion: In the liver parenchyma, millet-sized, yellowish-white, slightly firm, well-defined inflammatory necrotic foci were observed. The spleen was enlarged and mottled. During bacteriological testing of the liver and spleen samples, we identified colony morphology and biochemical characteristics typical of Salmonella bacteria. After serotyping the isolated Salmonella strain, Salmonella enterica subspecies houtenae was identified. Gravidity may have been a predisposing factor for the disease, which was further exacerbated by the large number of infertile follicles in the oviduct.