Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in Captive Niligiri Langur (Trachypithecus johnii) in South India

Abstract

The Niligiri Langur (Trachypithecus johnii) is a threatened black faced colobine which is endemic to Western Ghats in south India. The present study is designed to study the bacterial flora of gut from this non-human primate. The captive non-human primates usually suffer from gastrointestinal disturbances which often go unnoticed but they harbor variety bacterial flora in the gut. The Enterobactericeace such as E. coli, Shigella spp. and Salmonella spp. are some of the important bacterial species of gut flora. A total of 21 animals studied, of which 56 feacal swabs were collected from 18 animals from Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP), Vandalur, Chennai and 8 feacal swabs from 3 animals from Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Park (SCZP), Mysore. The 64 fresh feacal samples were screened for prevalence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. by conventional cultural method and molecular techniques. The prevalence of E. coli was found to be 100 percent (n-64) by cultural and PCR assay whereas Salmonella was isolated from 67.18% (43/64) viz., 37/56 (66%) in AAZP and 6/8 (75%) in SCZP by cultural method and PCR. The isolates were further subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test and found that isolates are sensitive to gentamicin, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin but few isolates found resistant to amoxicillin and cefotaxime. The present study concludes that E. coli is highly prevalent compared to Salmonella in gut of Niligiri Langur.