The aim was to investigate the level of Pasteurella multocida infection from two anatomic sites of black rats (Rattus rattus), popularly referred to as house or roof rats in a commercial quail farmhouse with recurrent fowl cholera outbreaks and also to evaluate the association between the P. multocida found in rats co-habiting quail poultry houses and isolates from outbreaks of fowl cholera. Thus 100 pharyngeal and 100 rectum swabs samples taken from rats co-habiting farmhouse were obtained and evaluated bacteriologically for isolation of P. multocida; 54% of pharyngeal swabs and 62% of rectum swabs were positive for P. multocida. Extended phenotypic characterization of the isolates confirmed the presence of subspecies P. multocida multocida. Subspecies P.multocida septica and gallicida were not encountered. Ramdom serotyping of 5 isolates each from the two sites confirmed serotypes A:4. Fowl cholera outbreaks were confirmed on the quail houses and carrier rats had the same P. multocida subspecies and serotype as the infected quail. The public health significance of the finding is also discussed.

Salmonella is an important agent of gastrointestinal disease in humans. While livestock, such as cattle, poultry, and pigs, are well-recognised animal reservoirs of Salmonella, there is a lack of data on Salmonella in edible frogs, even though frog meat is a popular food worldwide. In this study, 103 live edible Chinese frogs (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) were collected from wet markets throughout Hong Kong. After euthanasia, faeces or cloacal swabs were examined for Salmonella. Overall, Salmonella spp. were isolated from 67 (65%, CI: 0.554–0.736) of the samples. The serotypes included S. Saintpaul (33%), S. Newport (24%), S. Bareilly (7%), S. Braenderup (4%), S. Hvittingfoss (4%), S. Stanley (10%), and S. Wandsworth (16%). Many isolates were phylogenetically related. A high number of genes encoding for resistance to clinically relevant antimicrobials, and a high number of virulence determinants, were identified. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) identified multidrug resistance (MDR) in 21% of the isolates. Resistance to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and tetracycline was common. These results demonstrate that a high percentage of live frogs sold for human consumption in wet markets are carriers of multidrug-resistant Salmonella. Public health recommendations for handling edible frogs should be considered, to mitigate the risk of Salmonella transmission to humans.