ExoticReptilesNZ Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Thanks again to everyone who responded to the participation request for my Salmonella prevalence study. To date, I’ve swabbed over 500 reptile bums. I’m in the process of analysing the data and hope to have a summarised report of the results in a couple of months, so stay tuned. I really enjoyed meeting all of you, and thanks again for your help. Let me know if any of you are ever down this way; it’d be nice to catch up Sincerely, Heidy Kikillus ------------------------------- PhD Candidate, Ecology and Biodiversity Victoria University of Wellington School of Biological Sciences P.O. Box 600 Wellington 6140 New Zealand [email protected] Phone: +64 4 463 5233 x8011 Mobile: +64 0210 236 1197 Fax: +64 4 463 5331 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoticReptilesNZ Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Hi Everyone, just over 10% of my cloacal swabs came back positive for Salmonella, which is a heck of a lot lower than overseas estimates of up to 90% carriage rate. Any ideas on why this might be? Maybe smaller numbers of founding animals? Or are there dramatic differences in the way captive reptiles are kept in NZ compared to overseas? (i.e., lower density of animals, more hygienic conditions, etc?). Additionally, as previously mentioned, reptiles can be intermittent shedders of the bacteria, so not all positives may have been picked up. Pretty interesting results, nonetheless. When, I break it down by family groups, however, one group that had relatively high Salmonella rates were Agamids, with the majority of beardies testing positive. For groups which I had a very small sample size (like geckos), I am trying to do a "Freedom from Disease" statistical analysis, which estimates whether a particular group of animals is indeed free from Salmonella. In order to do this, I need to estimate the total number of animals in the population. I can easily plug my own numbers into the equation, but thought I would check if you guys had any suggestions, as it would make the results more meaningful for you. Total NZ population estimates I am after are for species such as: -Leopard geckos -Madagascar Day geckos -Chameleons -Box turtles I am in no way interested in who owns these animals, or where they are located, but just trying to get an estimate for the stats analysis. Also, aside from 2 unidentified strains, all of the strains of Salmonella I encountered have all been previously reported both in reptiles and humans in NZ. I hope this information is of interest to you. I'll have a bit more detail for you when I finish the statistical analysis, but if you have any questions/ comments in the meantime, let me know. Thanks again to everyone who participated! Heidy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Salmonella is spread by the faecal / oral route so washing your hands thoroughly after handling your beardie (or any other pet) and the same with cages and equipment will prevent you from getting salmonellosis so no need to panic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Thanks for the update Heidy Always interestng to hear whats going on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoticReptilesNZ Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Thanks, I'm pretty surprised at the amazingly low numbers of red-eared sliders that came back positive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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