Isolation Rate and Antimicrobial Profiles of Salmonella from Captive Wild Animals at University of Ilorin Zoological Garden, Kwara State, Nigeria

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Akeem O. Ahmed ¹
• Ahmad A Sagaya ¹
• Abdulhameed A Katibi ¹
• Fatima L Adamu ²
• Basheerat S Abdulkareem ³
• Aremu Abdulfatai ⁴
• Musa I Abubakar ⁵
• Ibrahim A Raufu ¹

¹ Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State

² Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State

³ Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

⁴ Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State

⁵ Department of Theriogenology and Production, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

10.22067/ijvst.2025.90724.1440

Abstract

Salmonellosis is a zoonotic disease of global epidemiology. The role of captive wildlife in the epidemiology of salmonellosis is elusive, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to determine the rate of isolation and antimicrobial profiles of Salmonella from captive wildlife at the University of Ilorin Zoological Garden. In a cross-sectional study, 191 faecal samples collected from different animals were subjected to standard bacteriological procedures. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing was conducted on the isolates per the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique. Nineteen (10.0 %) samples were positive for Salmonella. The frequencies of isolation varied among the different classes of wild animals sampled, with the highest isolation rate (5.24 %) from avian species. However, the differences in the isolation rates within and between the different classes of were not statistically significant (P> 0.05). The isolates generally showed a low level of antimicrobial resistance to the majority of the antibiotics tested, except ampicillin and erythromycin, to which 94.7 % and 89.5 % of the isolates displayed resistant phenotypes, respectively. The resistance rates to erythromycin and tetracycline were statistically significant among all the isolates (P= 0.042) and (P= 0.035), respectively. Similarly, resistance to ceftazidime is prominent among the primate species sampled (P= 0.002). Nine different resistance profiles were detected, and 15.8 % of resistant isolates displayed multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotypes. Eighteen 94.7 % of the Salmonella isolates possess multi-antibiotic resistance (MAR) index ≥ 0.2. Continuous monitoring is essential to determine the zoo's primary source of infection and control environmental contamination by MDR zoonotic pathogens

Keywords

• Captive wildlife
• Salmonella
• MDR
• Zoo
• Ilorin
• MAR Index

Main Subjects

• Microbiology

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