Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in captive wildlife at the National Zoological Garden Jos, Nigeria

Published reports on salmonella in wildlife are few and to the best of our knowledge, no published report exists on the prevalence of Salmonella at the National Zoological Garden Jos, Nigeria. There had been reports of death of wildlife among the zoo inmates due to infectious diarrhoea possibly due to Salmonella which is of economic importance and of great concern in terms of conservation of wildlife. Salmonella is also of great zoonotic importance especially in an animal contact setting like the zoo where many come to visit and interact with the animals. The study therefore sought to screen the zoo animals for Salmonella and to determine the prevalence of the organism. 160 faecal samples were collected from wildlife in the zoo over a period of three months and screened for Salmonella using the conventional biochemical tests and confirmation was done using the Microbact GNB 12E. Eight isolates were confirmed out of the 160 samples, giving a prevalence of 5%. There was a statistically significant association (p≤0.05) between the occurrence of Salmonella and months of sample collection. The finding of this study is a contribution to the surveillance of Salmonella in wildlife; it may also be the reason for the deaths recorded among the inmates due to infectious diarrhea. Considering its zoonotic nature, the staff, visitors to the zoo and the general public is at risk of contracting the bacteria from the animals, infected faecal materials, cages, railings etc. Captive and free range wildlife could be reservoirs and sources of Salmonella infection to other wildlife, domestic animals and man.