| Autor: |
Ramatla TA; Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South Africa and Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, South Africa., Mphuthi N; Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, South Africa., Ramaili T; Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, South Africa., Taioe M; Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South Africa and Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agriculture Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, South Africa., Thekisoe O; Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South Africa., Syakalima M; Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, South Africa and University of Zambia, School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Disease Control, Zambia. |
| Abstrakt: |
Rodents are key carriers and reservoirs of various pathogens of public health importance to both human and animal diseases. This research was carried out in order to identify the selected pathogens, namely, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli from rats that inhabit the poultry houses. A total of 154 samples from captured rats were examined for the zoonotic bacterial pathogens, of which 3.3%, 29.9% and 20.7% were harbouring Shigella spp., Salmonella spp. , and E. coli , respectively. A total of 14 Shigella isolates expressed presence of ipa H gene, of which eight and five were positive for S. sonnei and S. boydii , respectively. For Salmonella , 68 isolates were positive for inv A and other genes including spy with 26 (38%), sdf I 2 (18%), spv C 14 (20%), hil A 28 (41%), mis L 43 (63%), orf L 31 (46%) and spi C 38 (56%). For E. coli , the aggR gene was the most prevalent (62 [42%]), followed by the eae gene, which was only detected in 21 (14%) isolates, while stx gene was not detected in any of the samples. This study shows that zoonotic pathogens with virulence genes are circulating in rodents from selected chicken farms in the North West Province of South Africa. Rodents must therefore be regarded as important carriers of zoonotic pathogens that can potentially infect both humans and animals. |
