Bacterial and viral pathogens detected in sea turtles stranded along the coast of Tuscany, Italy

Fichi, Gianluca; Cardeti, G.; Cersini, Antonella; Mancusi, Cecilia; Guarducci, M.; Guardo, Giovanni Di; Terracciano, Giuliana

doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.02.003

Cited by 30 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Citrobacter freundii is a well-known captive sea turtle pathogen, responsible for cutaneous ulceration, sloughing skin septicemia, dehydration and death [16,45]. Klebsiella oxytoca was already reported in other Mediterranean areas associated with loggerhead turtles [9,27]). Shewanella spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter were the sea turtles with a problem (hook, plastic presence, gastrointestinal occlusion, collision with a boat) that needed a recovery period. A significant correlation was found among the different body measurements recorded To date, a few studies investigated the microbial community associated with Caretta caretta by using culture-dependent methods [9,10,[27][28][29] or metagenomic analysis [30][31][32], and even fewer studies were carried out on the antibiotic resistance of isolates [9,10,13,28]. All the latter studies collected samples from animals that needed to be recovered for several reasons (traumas, ingestion of fishing hooks, parasitosis, respiratory disorders) [9,10,13,28], or found dead along the seacoast [13].…”

Section: Loggerhead Turtles' Size and Health Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Antibiotic Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Wild Captured Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Blasi¹,

Migliore

Mattei³

et al. 2020

Antibiotics

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Sea turtles have been proposed as health indicators of marine habitats and carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, for their longevity and migratory lifestyle. Up to now, a few studies evaluated the antibacterial resistant flora of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and most of them were carried out on stranded or recovered animals. In this study, the isolation and the antibiotic resistance profile of 90 Gram negative bacteria from cloacal swabs of 33 Mediterranean wild captured loggerhead sea turtles are described. Among sea turtles found in their foraging sites, 23 were in good health and 10 needed recovery for different health problems (hereafter named weak). Isolated cloacal bacteria belonged mainly to Enterobacteriaceae (59%), Shewanellaceae (31%) and Vibrionaceae families (5%). Although slight differences in the bacterial composition, healthy and weak sea turtles shared antibiotic-resistant strains. In total, 74 strains were endowed with one or multi resistance (up to five different drugs) phenotypes, mainly towards ampicillin (~70%) or sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (more than 30%). Hence, our results confirmed the presence of antibiotic-resistant strains also in healthy marine animals and the role of the loggerhead sea turtles in spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Loggerhead Turtles' Size and Health Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Wild Captured Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Blasi¹,

Migliore

Mattei³

et al. 2020

Antibiotics

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“…Their findings included the isolation of several potential human pathogens such as V. alginolyticus , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Escherichia coli . The possible role of sea turtles as carriers of human pathogens is also discussed in a recent study which found two strains of V. parahaemolyticus on stranded sea turtles along the coast of Italy [28]. Little literature exists on bacteria isolated from sea turtle eyes [7, 8, 29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Isolates from Captive Green Turtles andIn VitroSensitivity to Bacteriophages

Carini

Ariel

Picard

et al. 2017

International Journal of Microbiology

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This study aimed to test multidrug resistant isolates from hospitalised green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and their environment in North Queensland, Australia, for in vitro susceptibility to bacteriophages. Seventy-one Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from green turtle eye swabs and water samples. Broth microdilution tests were used to determine antibiotic susceptibility. All isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics, with 24% being resistant to seven of the eight antibiotics. Highest resistance rates were detected to enrofloxacin (77%) and ampicillin (69.2%). More than 50% resistance was also found to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (62.5%), ceftiofur (53.8%), and erythromycin (53.3%). All the enriched phage filtrate mixtures resulted in the lysis of one or more of the multidrug resistant bacteria, including Vibrio harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus. These results indicate that antibiotic resistance is common in Gram-negative bacteria isolated from hospitalised sea turtles and their marine environment in North Queensland, supporting global concern over the rapid evolution of multidrug resistant genes in the environment. Using virulent bacteriophages as antibiotic alternatives would not only be beneficial to turtle health but also prevent further addition of multidrug resistant genes to coastal waters.

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“…Sea turtles are the definitive host for some of these parasites, but how host-specific or harmful these 399 parasites are to the host is not known. (23,(62)(63)(64) and two reports of papillomaviruses (62,65).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and Chlamydia species due to contact with infected animals (68). There are also reports of fish 543 pathogens in sea turtle which are of concern to aquaculture and the sea food industry (23). Fusarium solani can infect egg clutches, and high mortality rates are reported due to infection with 545 this species of fungi.…”

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confidence: 99%

Disease Risk Analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

Mashkour

Jones

Hipolito

et al. 2020

Preprint

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49The impact of a range of different threats has resulted in the listing of six out of seven sea turtle 50 species on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Disease risk analysis (DRA) tools are designed to 51 provide objective, repeatable and documented assessment of the disease risks for a population and 52 measures to reduce these risks through management options. To the best of our knowledge, DRAs 53 have not previously been published for sea turtles, although disease is reported to contribute to sea 54 turtle population decline. Here, a comprehensive list of health hazards is provided for all seven 55 species of sea turtles. The possible risk these hazards pose to the health of sea turtles were assessed 56 and "One Health" aspects of interacting with sea turtles were also investigated. The risk assessment 57 was undertaken in collaboration with more than 30 experts in the field including veterinarians, 58 microbiologists, social scientists, epidemiologists and stakeholders, in the form of two international 59 workshops and one local workshop. The general finding of the DRA was the distinct lack of 60 knowledge regarding a link between the presence of pathogens and diseases manifestation in sea 61 turtles. A higher rate of disease in immunocompromised individuals was repeatedly reported and a 62 possible link between immunosuppression and environmental contaminants as a result of 63 anthropogenic influences was suggested. Society based conservation initiatives and as a result the 64 cultural and social aspect of interacting with sea turtles appeared to need more attention and 65 research. A risk management workshop was carried out to acquire the insights of local policy makers 66 about management options for the risks relevant to Queensland and the options were evaluated 67 considering their feasibility and effectiveness. The sea turtle DRA presented here, is a structured 68 guide for future risk assessments to be used in specific scenarios such as translocation and head-69 starting programs. 70 71 72 73 3 74 101 Species Survival Commission in 2014. The manual addresses different scenarios for endangered 102 species and translocating them for conservation purposes and enables the pros and cons of these 103actions to be thoroughly investigated (11). In order to accommodate the unique biology of sea 104 turtles, the DRA process as described in this manual requires certain modifications to realistically 105 articulate with situations such as translocating animals or investigating the risks of disease for a 106 population in its normal habitat. A 2015 study describes a systematic approach to investigate 107 disease-related population decline without confining the assessment to a particular scenario or 108 location (6). This method is a modified version of a DRA based on epidemiological principles (6) for 109 any declining wildlife population. A successful DRA considers the study population in the context of 110 the environment. 111In the 1960's, Calvin Schwabe coined the term "One Medicine" which then extended ...

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Bacterial and viral pathogens detected in sea turtles stranded along the coast of Tuscany, Italy

Cited by 30 publications

References 19 publications

Antibiotic Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Wild Captured Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Antibiotic Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Wild Captured Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Isolates from Captive Green Turtles andIn VitroSensitivity to Bacteriophages

Disease Risk Analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

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