Isolation and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterotoxin produced Escherichia coli from Raptors Kept as Pets

Abstract

A total of 122 raptors bred as pet birds were sampled from 2007 to 2008 for the detection Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Cloacal swabs were collected from each bird and cultured. Salmonella spp. were not detected in any samples. A total of 98 E. coli strains were isolated from 122 fecal samples. A total of 18 of 98 E. coli isolates belonging to the following O serogroups were identified: O8 (9 strains), O1 (3 strains), O168 (3 strains), O86 (2 strains) and O128 (1 strain). In the order Accipitriformes, 37 (59.7%) of 62 strains were identified as verotoxin producing E. coli, and 1 strain (1.6%) was identified as heat-labile enterotoxin producing E. coli. On the other hand, in the order Strigiformes, 17 (47.2%) of 36 strains were identified as verotoxin producing E. coli, and 7 strains (19.4%) were identified as heat-labile enterotoxin producing E. coli. A comparison of resistance patterns of E. coli isolates from Accipitriformes and Strigiformes revealed that 33 (53.2%) of 62 isolates from Accipitriformes and 5 (13.9%) of 36 isolates from Strigiformes were antimicrobial sensitive (P<0.05).