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

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.