Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Nov;66(7):852-860.
doi: 10.1111/zph.12635. Epub 2019 Jul 29.

Salmonellosis detection and evidence of antibiotic resistance in an urban raccoon population in a highly populated area, Costa Rica

Mario Baldi  1   2 , Elías Barquero Calvo  2 , Sabine E Hutter  3   4 , Chris Walzer  1   5
Affiliations

Salmonellosis detection and evidence of antibiotic resistance in an urban raccoon population in a highly populated area, Costa Rica

Mario Baldi et al. Zoonoses Public Health. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Wild animals are involved in zoonotic disease transmission cycles. These are generally complex and poorly understood, especially among animals adapted to life in human ecosystems. Raccoons are reservoirs and effective carriers for infectious agents such as Salmonella throughout different environments and contribute to the transference of resistance genes. This study examined the presence of circulating Salmonella sp. in a population of raccoons in a tropical urban environment and evaluated resistance to antibiotics commonly used to treat salmonellosis. A total of 97 raccoons of different ages and sex were included in this study. 49% (38-60 CI) of the faecal samples were positive for Salmonella spp. The study identified 15 circulating serovars with the most prevalent being S. Hartford (7/15), S. Typhimurium (4/15) and S. Bovismorbificans (4/15). These serovars correspond to the serovars detected in humans with clinical symptoms in Costa Rica. 9.5% of the Salmonella strains recovered demonstrated ciprofloxacin resistance, and 7.1% showed resistance to nalidixic acid. This study provides evidence of multiple Salmonella serovars circulating in a population of urban raccoons in Costa Rica. Furthermore, the study confirms the existence of antimicrobial resistance to two antibiotics used to treat human salmonellosis. The findings emphasize the role of the raccoon as a reservoir of Salmonella in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica (GAM) and stress the need for active monitoring of the presence and possible spread in antibiotic resistance due to this peri-domestic carnivore.

Keywords: Procyon lotor; Salmonella sp; antibiotic resistance; public health; zoonosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shows the areas in the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM) where the raccoon samples were taken.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adams, C. E. , & Lindsey, K. J. (2010). Urban wildlife management (2nd ed.). London, UK: CRC; Taylor & Francis [distributor]: Boca Raton, FL.
    1. Aldred, K. J. , Kerns, R. J. , & Osheroff, N. (2014). Mechanisms of quinolone action and resistance. Biochemestry, 53(10), 1565–1574. 10.1021/bi5000564 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al‐Gallas, N. , Abbassi, M. S. , Gharbi, B. , Manai, M. , Ben Fayala, M. N. , Bichihi, R. , … Ben Aissa, R. (2013). Occurrence of plasmid‐mediated quinolone resistance determinants and rmtB gene in Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis and Typhimurium isolated from food‐animal products in Tunisia. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, 10(9), 813–819. 10.1089/fpd.2012.1466 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allen, S. E. , Boerlin, P. , Janecko, N. , Lumsden, J. S. , Barker, I. K. , Pearl, D. L. , … Jardine, C. (2011). Antimicrobial resistance in generic Escherichia coli isolates from wild small mammals living in swine farm, residential, landfill, and natural environments in southern Ontario, Canada. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77(3), 882–888. 10.1128/AEM.01111-10 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Society of Microbiology (2016). Clinical microbiology procedures handbook (4th ed.). Washington, DC: ASM Press.

Publication types

Substances