Jorge Rojas-Jiménez1, Esteban Brenes-Mora2, Paloma Alcázar-García3, Randall Arguedas-Porras4, Elías Barquero-Calvo5. 1. Nai Conservation, San José, Costa Rica; IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG), Gland, Switzerland; Awá Science & Conservation, Costa Rica. 2. Nai Conservation, San José, Costa Rica; Awá Science & Conservation, Costa Rica. 3. Awá Science & Conservation, Costa Rica; Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI), Lima, Perú. 4. Awá Science & Conservation, Costa Rica; Zoológico Nacional Simón Bolívar, San José, Costa Rica. 5. Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica. Electronic address: elias.barquero.calvo@una.cr.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to analyse the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Escherichia coli isolates obtained from faecal samples of free-ranging Baird's tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) in the northwestern region of the Talamanca Mountain Range, Costa Rica. METHODS: Faecal samples were collected by opportunistic search of the study area from February-September 2017 during seven field expeditions. Escherichia coli isolates were recovered using selective and differential MacConkey agar medium and were subjected to biochemical identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing using a VITEK®2 Compact automated system and the AST-N279 card. RESULTS: A total of 60 E. coli isolates were obtained from 63 faecal samples. Following evaluation of nine different antimicrobial classes, 98% (59/60) of the isolates were characterised as pansusceptible; only 1 isolate presented resistance to nalidixic acid. CONCLUSION: We propose that the commensal intestinal microbiota of free-ranging Baird's tapirs in this area remains isolated from antibiotic selective pressure, probably because seven different protected areas converge, thus giving a possible low anthropogenic activity to the region.
OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to analyse the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Escherichia coli isolates obtained from faecal samples of free-ranging Baird's tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) in the northwestern region of the Talamanca Mountain Range, Costa Rica. METHODS: Faecal samples were collected by opportunistic search of the study area from February-September 2017 during seven field expeditions. Escherichia coli isolates were recovered using selective and differential MacConkey agar medium and were subjected to biochemical identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing using a VITEK®2 Compact automated system and the AST-N279 card. RESULTS: A total of 60 E. coli isolates were obtained from 63 faecal samples. Following evaluation of nine different antimicrobial classes, 98% (59/60) of the isolates were characterised as pansusceptible; only 1 isolate presented resistance to nalidixic acid. CONCLUSION: We propose that the commensal intestinal microbiota of free-ranging Baird's tapirs in this area remains isolated from antibiotic selective pressure, probably because seven different protected areas converge, thus giving a possible low anthropogenic activity to the region.