Salmonella & Reptiles Veterinary Guidelines

Vets who treat reptiles should be aware of the following information and recommendations concerning reptiles and Salmonella spp. Salmonella spp. carriage appears to be highly prevalent in reptiles. Reptiles should be considered to be non-clinical carriers of Salmonella spp. The organism is intermittently or continuously shed in their faeces and, if ingested by humans, may result in a potentially serious illness. Vets treating reptiles play an important role in informing reptile owning clients about Salmonellosis and advising them on precautions for reducing the risk of acquiring Salmonella infection from reptiles. As Salmonella spp. may be shed intermittently in the faeces of reptiles, it is not possible to determine whether any live reptile is free of Salmonella spp. Treatment of reptiles with antibiotics in attempts to eliminate Salmonella spp. from their intestinal tract have not proven to be effective. Such therapy does however increase the risk of the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella strains, which, if transmitted to humans, would complicate treatment of the infected person. With this information in mind, the following guidelines have been developed by the British Veterinary Zoological Society to help disseminate information to vets seeing reptile patients and to the general public on how to minimise risks of exposure to Salmonella spp. and to help prevent development of reptile-associated Salmonellosis in humans.

1. Vets who treat reptiles should educate their reptile-owning clients about Salmonella spp. and provide information on the recommended precautions for reducing the risk of transmission of Salmonella spp. from reptiles to humans. A British Veterinary Zoological Society sponsored client handout is available and can be copied as necessary.
2. All vets, staff and clients who handle reptiles should follow recommended precautions for reducing the risk of transmitting Salmonella spp. from reptiles to humans. These precautions are included in the British Veterinary Zoological Society client education handout.
3. All reptiles should be presumed to be carrying Salmonella spp. in their intestinal tract and to be continuously or intermittently shedding it in their faeces. Bacterial culture of faecal specimens from reptiles to determine Salmonella infection status is discouraged, as false positives are common and misleading.
4. If vets are called upon to assist in determining the cause of Salmonellosis in a person, bacterial culture of combined faecal and cloacal specimens from reptiles with which that person has had direct or indirect contact are recommended and exact speciation and type of the Salmonella spp. in both person and reptile should be determined.
5. Antimicrobial treatment of healthy reptiles with the intention of eliminating Salmonella spp. from the intestinal tract is not recommended. Clients who request treatment of healthy reptiles for Salmonella spp. should be discouraged from such treatment and cautioned about the possibility of causing the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella strains that might pose a greater health risk to humans.