Zoonotic potential of Salmonella sp. and Escherichia coli strains isolated from reptiles – current state of knowledge

Zoonoses are currently a public health problem, therefore research on the infectivity of zoonotic pathogens is extremely important. One of the vectors of zoonoses are reptiles, which are a reservoir of many path- ogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and parasites. Therefore, both free-living reptiles and those bred as a hobby, illegally transported from exotic countries or belonging to zoo collections may be a source of infectious diseases. The most common reptilerelated zoonoses are salmonellosis. Reptiles may also be a reservoir of other pathogenic intestinal bacteria, such as E. coli. Knowledge about the occurrence of E. coli strains, especially ExPEC (ang. Extraintestinal Pathogenic E. coli), among cold-blooded animals is limited, but research on this topic has been ongoing in recent years. Reptiles are asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella strains that are pathogenic to humans and cause very serious extraintestinal infections in humans - reptile-associated salmonellosis (RAS). Therefore, it can be assumed that these animals may also be a reservoir of other pathogenic bacteria, such as extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli.